NORTHERN IRELAND

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time taken by her Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Michael Penning: My Department publishes prompt payment statistics in its Annual Report and Accounts each year.
	Comparable figures for the Northern Ireland Office as it is now configured are not available following the completion of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010. In 2010-11, the Department paid 97% of suppliers within 10 days; 43% of payments were made within five days. In 2011-12, the Department paid 97% of all suppliers within 10 days, and 30% within five days.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to which magazines, journals and newspapers her Department subscribes.

Michael Penning: My Department does not subscribe to any publications but have the following newspapers delivered for which we are billed monthly by the newsagents:
	Irish Independent (Monday to Sunday)
	Irish Times (Monday to Saturday)
	Daily Mail (Monday to Friday)
	The Telegraph (Monday to Friday)
	Financial Times (Monday to Friday)
	The Guardian (Monday to Friday)
	The Independent (Monday to Friday)
	The Sun (Monday to Friday)
	The Times (Monday to Friday)
	The Spectator (Monday to Friday)
	Belfast Telegraph (Monday to Saturday)
	News Letter (Monday to Saturday)
	Irish News (Monday to Saturday)
	The NI Daily Mirror (Monday to Friday)
	The Sunday Life

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Brandon Lewis: The following table shows the average time taken by the Department for Communities and Local Government to settle invoices to suppliers during the last three financial years.
	
		
			 Financial year Average time (in days) 
			 2009-10 6.29 
			 2010-11 4.33 
			 2011-12 4.15 
		
	
	The invoices included in the table are for all suppliers as DCLG does not distinguish between supplier types.

Citizens' Advice Bureaux: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effect of changes to local government funding on the provision of citizens' advice services in Cumbria.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There are no Cumbria wide funding issues that I am aware of. However, there are two issues relating to funding of services provided by Barrow Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) and the outreach service provided by Citizens Advice South Lakeland. I understand the local authority are considering—but yet to decide—a major reduction in funding to Barrow CAB over the next three years. Faced with that threat the CAB are currently finalising a three year plan supported by the umbrella body, Citizens Advice, on how services can continue to be delivered in light of any reduction in funding. In the case of the outreach service delivered by Citizens Advice South Lakeland, the bureaux have been experiencing some financial difficulties but this is not due to any cut in local authority funding and they have been working closely with Cumbria Rural to ensure a service will continue to be delivered to clients in the district.

Energy Performance Certificates

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the Energy Performance Certificate.

Don Foster: My Department carried out a review jointly with the Department for Energy and Climate Change in 2011 of the energy performance of buildings regime, including Energy Performance Certificates. Among other things, the joint review recommended that the content and format of the Energy Performance Certificate should be improved to make it more user friendly and of greater benefit to consumers. A redesigned Energy Performance Certificate was released on 1 April this year. The key features of the new look Certificate are:
	a much more professional design with better use of graphics and white space;
	more consumer-friendly with plain English used throughout;
	a very clear emphasis on the financial costs and benefits of various measures; and
	clear signposting to the Green Deal and information on which measures qualify for Green Deal finance.

Fire Services

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse was of each fire and rescue service in England and Wales in 2011-12.

Brandon Lewis: We do not undertake a cost to the public purse calculation. However my Department collects and publishes expenditure and grant information of all local authorities in England, including fire and rescue authorities; this information is found at the following web link. The cost to the public purse of fire and rescue services in Wales is a devolved matter.
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/revenuelocaldatabudget201112

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish the (a) impact assessment and (b) equality impact assessment relating to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.

Nicholas Boles: In line with the new Regulatory Policy Committee procedures, published in August 2012, we have assessed whether provisions within the Bill are deregulatory or low-cost regulatory measures (with an impact on business below £1 million per annum) for verification by the Regulatory Policy Committee. We will publish impact assessments for the Bill provisions shortly. In accordance with the public sector equality duty, we have considered whether any of our policies or the way that these policies are carried out will affect people who share relevant protected characteristics in different ways from people who do not share them, and have concluded that they do not.

Homelessness

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each age category, who were accepted as homeless, had lost their last settled home because their parents were no longer willing or able to provide accommodation in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: The information requested is not available because the relevant local authority return (the quarterly P1E return) does not go into the necessary level of detail.
	The P1E return collects figures for:
	the total number of homelessness acceptances during each quarter broken down by age category, and
	the total number of homelessness acceptances during each quarter broken down by the main reason for the loss of last settled home, including cases where parents were no longer able or willing to provide accommodation;
	but it does not collect figures broken down by both of these factors at the same time.
	We secured an additional £70 million last year to help local agencies prevent and tackle homelessness. This includes the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund to support the national, roll out of No Second Night Out, tackle rough sleeping and protect vital front line services and the £20 million Single Homelessness Prevention Fund to help ensure single homeless people get access to good housing advice.
	This is on top of the £400 million we are investing for homelessness prevention over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15), which includes £10.8 million to help single people access private rented sector accommodation.

Housing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely distributional effect of the top-slicing of the revenue support grant for local authorities to fund the New Homes Bonus in (a) the South East, (b) the South West, (c) the North East, (d) the North West, (e) Yorkshire and the Humber, (f) the East Midlands, (g) the West Midlands, (e) the East of England and (f) London;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of control totals for local authorities for (a) the safety net and (b) capitalisation.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has not attempted to calculate how the support we are proposing to provide to local government for the safety net, capitalisation and the New Homes Bonus would have been distributed if these amounts were not deducted from the overall resource that will go to local government. The proposals set out in our recent Technical Consultation on Business Rates Retention have been clear that any funding that they do not require for these purposes will be returned to each authority pro rata to the Start-Up Funding Assessment.

Non-domestic Rates

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local billing authorities have used their powers under the Localism Act 2011 to implement discounts on business rates; and if he will estimate the average cost incurred by authorities which have exercised those powers.

Brandon Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally. The business rate discounts in the new Enterprise Zones are being delivered through these Localism Act powers.

Social Rented Housing

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the level of under-occupation in social housing is in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency.

Mark Prisk: Under-occupancy for England is estimated using the English Housing Survey. Due to limited sample sizes the results are not robust at local authority area and constituency level.

CABINET OFFICE

Charity Commission

Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make an assessment of whether the Charity Commission treats all religions and religious sects on an equal basis.

Nick Hurd: The registration of charities is a matter for the Charity Commission. As with all public bodies, the commission has a legal duty to apply relevant equalities legislation.

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office's total facilities management contract for its central London estate is with ETDE. ETDE already use cleaning chemicals which are not tested on animals. The cleaning contract for buildings outside of central London is with Mitie who do not use products tested on animals.
	Products used in cleaning services supplied to the Department are required to comply with the Government Buying Standards co-ordinated by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs:
	http://sd.defra.gov.uk/advice/public/buying/products/cleaning/

Families

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of families with four or more children in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated October 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your request to ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of families with four or more children in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland. (126074)
	The number and size of families in the UK can be estimated using the Labour Force Survey. Estimates are provided for families with at least one dependent child. Dependent children are those living with their parent(s)and either (a) aged under 16, or (b) aged 16 to 18 in full-time education, excluding children aged 16 to 18 who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household.
	There are 265,000 families with four or more dependent children in the UK in 2012, and 17,000 in Scotland.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Internet

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance his Department has issued to other Departments on the logging of departmental internet usage.

Nick Hurd: Individual departments are responsible for monitoring internet usage themselves and should have acceptable use policies in place for their staff.
	The Government Digital Service has published guidance on the use of social media, which is available online at:
	https://update.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/social-media-guidance

Plymouth Brethren

Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the Charity Commission's decision to exclude the Plymouth Brethren from charitable status; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The trust in question has lodged an appeal against the Charity Commission's decision and the outcome of the appeal is awaited.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.

Public Appointments

Michael Meacher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which public sector appointments are currently subject to confirmation hearings by select committees; and which appointments were subject to such hearings in the last two years, by date, appointee and select committee.

Francis Maude: holding answer 30 October 2012
	A list of pre-appointment and confirmation hearings was published in the House of Commons Liaison Committee report ‘Select Committees and Public Appointments the Government's response’. (September 2012):
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmliaisn/394/394.pdf

Research

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department spent on research and development in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and how much he plans to spend in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Francis Maude: Prior to financial year 2011-12 research and development expenditure was not separately identified in the Cabinet Office accounts. £1.71 million was spent on research and development in 2011-12 and £1.51 million has been allocated in 2012-13. Allocations have not been set for future years.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Francis Maude: As part of this Government's transparency programme, the Cabinet Office publishes details of staff sick absences on the departmental website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/absence-data

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Olympic Games 2012

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  with reference to her Department's recent announcement that £377 million of the £480 million uncommitted contingency funding for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will be paid to her Department, whether she gave consideration to using this money to reimburse the Big Lottery Fund;
	(2)  with reference to her Department's recent announcement that £480 million of uncommitted contingency funding for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics remains unspent, if she will refund £425 million to the Big Lottery Fund immediately rather than following the sale of Olympic assets.

Hugh Robertson: The forecast underspend of £377 million in the public sector funding package (PSFP) for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is the forecast of unspent funds held by HM Treasury as the Government's contribution to the PSFP. These unspent funds will be retained by HM Treasury. The national lottery distributors, including the Big Lottery Fund, will benefit from funds remaining in the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund, not required for the Olympic and Paralympic programme, and will also receive just over £69 million from the receipts of sale of the Olympic Village, expected in 2014. The position remains that the national lottery distributors will be reimbursed for their additional contribution of £675 million to the PSFP from the receipts of sale of land on the Olympic Park.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport to which magazines, journals and newspapers her Department subscribes.

Hugh Robertson: The magazines, journals and newspapers subscribed to by this Department, are as follows:
	Newspapers
	The Financial Times
	The Guardian
	The Independent
	The Daily Mail (1)
	The Daily Express (1)
	The Daily Mirror (1)
	The Sun (1)
	The Times (1)
	The Daily Telegraph (1)
	The Observer
	The Sunday People
	Art Newspaper
	Magazines/Journals
	The Spectator
	The New Statesman
	Private Eye
	Broadcast Magazine
	The Economist
	The Art Review
	The Stage
	Building Design
	Local Government Chronicle
	The Voice
	The Eastern Eye
	House magazine
	House of Lords Daily Business
	House of Lords Daily Hansard
	(1) Includes Sunday editions

TREASURY

Aerospace Industry

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2012, Official Report, column 502W, on the aerospace industry, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to assist the industry.

Sajid Javid: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 1013W.

Infrastructure

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was of all Government-funded infrastructure projects in the (a) London area and (b) rest of the UK in the last five years.

Danny Alexander: Between 2005 and 2010 around £113 billion was invested in infrastructure through both the private and public sectors. Approximately 18% of this figure was invested in water and flood management, 1% in waste, 37% in transport, 20% in energy and 24% in communications.
	The National Infrastructure Plan 2011 set out the Government's expectation that over £250 billion of public and private investment in infrastructure is planned to 2015 and beyond. Capital expenditure by the Department for Transport, for example, has increased in the last five years from £6.7 billion in 2007-08 to £8.2 billion in 2012-13, helping to deliver the road and rail networks that the UK needs.
	The Government do not compile information at a sub-national level, so figures for investment in London are not available.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury subscribes to the following magazines, journals and newspapers:
	AGRA Facts
	Banker
	Bloomberg Business Week
	Centre for Economics Policy and Research
	Commercial Motor Thu ,
	Daily Express M-F
	Bloomberg Business Week
	Commercial Motor Thu
	Daily Express M-F
	Daily Express SAT
	Daily Mail M-F
	Daily Mail SAT
	Daily Mirror M-F
	Daily Mirror Sat
	Daily Telegraph M-F
	Daily Telegraph Sat
	EBSCO Host Databases
	Economist
	Estates Gazette
	European Voice
	Factiva
	Farmers Weekly Fri
	Financial Times M-F
	Financial Times Sat
	Guardian M-F
	Guardian Sat
	Independent M-F
	Independent on Sunday
	Independent Saturday
	Inframation
	International Herald Tribune
	Investors Chronicle
	ISSUU
	Le Monde M-F
	Local Government Chron Fri
	Mail on Sunday
	Motor Transport Thu
	New Statesman Thu
	News of the World
	Observer
	Private Eye Wed F/N
	Prospect
	Scotsman M-F
	Spectator
	Sun M-F
	Sun Sat
	Sunday Express
	Sunday Mirror
	Sunday People
	Sunday Telegraph
	Sunday Times
	Taxation Thu
	Times M-F
	Times Education Supp Fri
	Times Sat
	Wall Street Journal M-F
	Weekly Fin News

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Sajid Javid: During 2011-12 the Department spent £41,753 on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications.

Taxation: Multinational Companies

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes to the controlled foreign companies rules will come into force (a) on 1 January 2013 and (b) at a given later date; if he will estimate the reduction in tax receipts to the Exchequer arising from each of these changes in each of the next five years; and if he will estimate the loss of tax receipts to developing countries arising from these changes in each of the next five years.

David Gauke: The Government is introducing a modernised controlled foreign company regime that strikes the right balance between making the corporate tax system more competitive and providing adequate protection of the UK tax base. The regime will apply to companies which artificially divert UK profits to low tax jurisdictions to avoid UK tax.
	Changes to the controlled foreign companies (CFC) rules were legislated in Finance Act 2012 and come into force on 1 January 2013.
	The total cost of changes to the CFC rules is set out in the Budget 2012 policy costings document available on the HM Treasury website:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_policy_costings.pdf
	The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the effect on developing countries of the proposed changes to the CFC rules as these rules are designed to protect the UK Exchequer by preventing artificial diversion of UK profits.
	Any assessment would need to focus primarily on the nature of tax regimes of other countries, making it an assessment not of our tax rules but the tax rules of other countries and their application to the relevant subsidiaries of .UK headed groups.
	While the Government do not think that any such assessment would be feasible, we are committed to helping developing countries to build capacity and to access tax information on which they can act to collect the tax that they are due.
	The strengthening of tax administration in developing countries is a key issue in tax and development and the Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue.

Taxation: Multinational Companies

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to prevent international companies using (a) intra-group debt financing, (b) transfer pricing, including of intangibles such as intellectual property, (c) royalty payments or franchise fees for use of brands, designs or trademarks and (d) havens such as Switzerland to move funds out of Europe without incurring a withholding tax; and what estimate he has made of the annual loss to the Exchequer arising from the use of such schemes.

David Gauke: The Government is alert to the risk that some companies may try to structure their affairs so that profits from UK-based economic activity are not taxed here. The UK system of taxing multinational business is based on internationally agreed principles that determine how much profit each country should tax. The UK works closely with other jurisdictions to share information and ensure a more effective approach to cross-border tax avoidance. The UK has specific tax rules to combat tax avoidance by international companies. HMRC will investigate and challenge transfer pricing arrangements where appropriate. For example, transfer pricing inquiries have generated intervention yield of £4 billion over the last four years. The UK supports international action on base erosion and profit-shifting, which has been endorsed by the G20.

VAT

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps HM Revenue and Customs is taking to prevent avoidance of VAT by internet, telephone and mail order companies delivering goods and services to customers in the UK.

David Gauke: UK VAT is due on goods sold via mail order (internet or phone) to UK consumers by a business in another EU member state where their sales into the UK exceed £70,000 a year. UK VAT is also due on goods bought from a non-EU business, except where the value is less than £15. In April 2012, this £15 relief was withdrawn for goods imported from the Channel Islands to end the exploitation of this relief, which had been used on an increasingly large scale to sell low value goods into the UK. HMRC and Border Force carry out risk based compliance work to ensure that the UK VAT rules are being applied correctly to mail order goods.
	Electronic services supplied to UK consumers by a non-EU business are liable to UK VAT. HMRC carry out random checks on these supplies to ensure that the correct amount of UK VAT is being paid.
	Electronic services supplied to UK consumers by a business in another EU member state are currently liable to VAT in that member state, though from 2015, these supplies will be liable to UK VAT. Where HMRC consider that any business is currently seeking to avoid UK VAT by purporting to make the supply from another EU member state, they will carefully scrutinise the arrangements and where appropriate, challenge them to ensure fairness for the UK taxpayer.

Welfare Tax Credits: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria were in receipt of (i) child tax credit and (ii) working tax credit in the 2011-12 financial year;
	(2)  how many families in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) Cumbria were in receipt of working tax credit on (i) 1 September 2011 and (ii) 1 September 2012.

David Gauke: The information for 2011-12 tax year has not yet been published (it is due to be released in May 2013). However, information for 2010-11 tax year is available.
	This information is published in the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised annual awards. Geographical analysis.” Information for 2010-11 tax year can be found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/child-wtc-geo-may12.xls
	In this publication, the number of families in receipt of child tax credit—(CTC) and working tax credit (WTC) in Barrow and Furness constituency can be found in Table 3. The corresponding number for the local authority of Cumbria can be found in Table 2.
	For convenience, these figures have been reproduced in the following tables:
	
		
			 Table 2: Average number of benefiting families in local authority of Cumbria, 2010-11 
			  In-work families (T housand)  
			  With children    
			   Receiving CTC only  With no children  
			  Receiving WTC and CTC More than the family element Family element or less Of which, lone parents Receiving WTC only Total  i n-work families 
			 Cumbria 14.7 6.6 16.2 8.8 5.6 43.1 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Average number of benefiting in Barrow and Furness parliamentary constituency, 2010-11 
			  In-work families ( T housand)  
			  With children    
			   Receiving CTC only  With no children  
			  Receiving WTC and CTC More than the family element Family element or less Of  which, lone parents Receiving WTC only Total  i n-work families 
			 Barrow and Furness 2.9 1.2 3.0 1.8 1.1 8.2 
		
	
	The number of families in receipt of working tax credit in the constituency of Barrow and Furness in September 2011 and 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 (Thousand) 
			 As at September each year: Receive WTC and CTC Receive WTC only 
			 2011 2.5 0.9 
			 2012 2.4 1.0 
		
	
	The number of families in receipt of working tax credit in Cumbria in September 2011 and 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 (Thousand) 
			 As at September each year: Receive WTC and CTC Receive WTC only 
			 2011 13.6 5.0 
			 2012 13.1 5.0

TRANSPORT

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport and its agencies collects prompt payment performance measured against targets specified by the Government. These are as follows:
	Percentage of supplier invoices paid within 30 working days or receipt (target 98%)
	Percentage of supplier invoices paid within 5 working days of receipt (target 80%).
	The percentage of invoices paid in accordance with these targets, covering the twelve months to September 2012, is published on the Department's website at the following address:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/prompt-payment-statistics/statistics.pdf
	The percentage of invoices paid to the same targets for the last two years are as follows:
	
		
			  5 days % 30 days % 
			 2010-11 86.10 99.63 
			 2011-12 93.12 99.66

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Norman Baker: Central departments must ensure they meet the minimum mandatory specifications set out in the Government Buying Standards. The Department for Transport complies with that policy for the purchase of cleaning products and intends to continue to do so.
	The Government Buying Standards for cleaning products do not currently cover testing on animals, but this is something we would welcome and this Department has in fact raised this issue with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who own the Standards.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the application of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ National Ecosystem Assessment to the HS2 project.

Simon Burns: The Department for Transport uses a standard appraisal methodology for all projects, known as WebTAG, which already includes an assessment of environmental effects such as noise and air quality within it.
	WebTAG is routinely updated on an annual basis. My officials are therefore working closely with colleagues in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to see how the recent National Ecosystem Assessment could inform WebTAG's development.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason no value was assigned to the designation of areas of outstanding natural beauty in the valuation of the potential impact on landscape of the HS2 project.

Simon Burns: The value of undeveloped land is defined by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). More information on DCLG's methodology can be found here:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/158136.pdf
	Between the M25 and Amersham the land affected by HS2 received a modest valuation because HS2 is in tunnel in this section. However, from Amersham to the Chilterns Northern Edge the landscape was valued the highest per hectare along the entire HS2 route.

Metals: Theft

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents there have been of theft of metal from railway lines in each quarter since January 2011.

Norman Baker: Network Rail have advised that the numbers of metal theft incidents on the rail network which have affected performance in each quarter are as follows:
	
		
			 Number 
			 2011 Q1 286 
			 2011 Q2 275 
			 2011 Q3 325 
			 2011 Q4 154 
			 2012 Q1 100 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 Q2 97 
			 2012 Q3 79 
			 2012 Q4 12 (to date)

Metals: Theft

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the value was of the metal in cables stolen from railway lines in each quarter since January 2011.

Norman Baker: This information is not held by Network Rail or the Department. However, the value of the stolen metal is thought to be a small fraction of the cost of the resulting disruption to train' services. The cost to Network Rail of compensating operators for delays caused by metal theft in 2011/12 alone was some £12 million.

Network Rail: Pay

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what the highest individual amount agreed to be paid as a retention bonus to a Network Rail director is over the next three years;
	(2)  to how many executive directors Network Rail has agreed to pay a retention bonus over the next three years;
	(3)  how much Network Rail has agreed to pay in retention bonuses to directors over the next three years;
	(4)  whether the Office of Rail Regulation has agreed to each retention bonus due to be paid to directors of Network Rail in the next three years;
	(5)  whether retention bonuses paid at Network Rail will be paid in addition to existing annual and long-term bonus schemes due to be paid as part of Network Rail's management Incentive Plan;
	(6)  what recent assessment he has made of the level of bonus payments paid to directors at Network Rail;
	(7)  whether he has assessed the appropriateness of further bonus payments being made to Network Rail executive directors in addition to those agreed as part of the Management Incentive Plan;
	(8)  whether he had discussions with Network Rail in advance of its Remuneration Committee agreeing that £11.7 million would be allocated for potential payments to Network Rail executive directors in bonus payments under the Management Incentive Plan.

Simon Burns: Network Rail is a private sector, not-for-dividend, company limited by guarantee. As such, decisions on executive remuneration are an issue for the company's Remuneration Committee and the members that collectively hold it to account. It is for the independent Office of Rail Regulation to ensure that Network Rail's management incentive plan is compatible with its licence condition on executive remuneration.
	The previous Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), made it clear in early 2012 that the proposed reforms to Network Rail's executive remuneration package were unacceptable, and that taxpayers and fare payers would expect that reward was proportionate and reflected performance.
	Network Rail has set out its plans to improve its governance and make the company more accountable. These reforms include the appointment of a public interest director to ensure that the interests of taxpayers are articulated in board discussions. Once the public interest director is in place, Network Rail aims to go forward with resolving the long-term issue on executive pay by putting in place a management incentive plan for the years 2012-13 and beyond.
	Meantime, Network Rail need to have sensible interim arrangements in place to reassure key individuals, central to long-term delivery, that good performance on behalf of the company and its customers will be rewarded. Accordingly, at the company's AGM in July 2012, Network Rail's members agreed one-off performance-related retention payments (PRRPs) of £300,000 each for three executive directors. The Office of Rail Regulation has said it is satisfied that the PRRPs are compliant with Network Rail's licence.
	Network Rail published details of their plans for executive remuneration in their June 2012 annual report, which is available at:
	http://www.networkrail.co.uk/uploadedFiles/networkrailcouk/Contents/Publications/Annual_report_and_accounts/2012/NRIL_AR2012.pdf

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not maintain a central list of magazines, journals and newspapers to which it subscribes, but the following lists those publications subscribed to which can be identified without disproportionate cost:
	Net CD M
	1 Copy Economist
	Aircraft
	Artists & Illustrators
	Auto Express
	Autocar
	Aviation News
	Bike
	Book Reflections
	Bookseller
	Buses Mtly
	Campaign
	Coach and Bus Weekly
	Commercial Motor
	Complete Kit Car
	Computer Arts
	Construction News
	Credit New Scientist
	Croner Health and Safety (Received electronically)
	Croner's Road Transport Operation
	Crossed Of Labels June 3Rd
	Daily Express
	Daily Mail
	Daily Mirror
	Daily Telegraph
	Die Welt
	Digital Camera Magazine
	DODS Parliamentary Companion
	DODS Vacher's Quarterly
	Economist
	Employers Law
	Equal Opportunities Review
	European Voice
	Evening Standard
	Fairplay
	Financial Times
	Fishing News
	Flight International
	Freedom of Information Journal
	Guardian
	Health & Safety Magazine
	Health and Safety Management
	Ihs Fairplay
	Independent
	Independent On Sunday
	Independent-Saturday
	Jordans Health and Safety
	Kit Car Magazine
	Le Figaro
	Lloyds List
	Local Government Chron Fri
	Local Transport Today
	MAC User Fortnightly
	Mail On Sunday
	Marketing Week
	Modern Railways
	Motor Cycle News
	Motor Transport
	Motorcycle News
	Nature
	Nautilus Telegraph (Monthly)
	Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
	New Law Journal
	New Scientist
	New Statesman
	Observer
	PC Answers Cd
	PC Pro Cd
	PR Week
	Practical Boat Owner (Monthly)
	Press Gazette
	Print Week and Print World
	Privacy and Data Protection Journal
	Private Eye
	Project Online Annual Subscription
	Prospect
	Racecar Engineering
	Rail Business Intelligence
	Rail Wed
	Railways Illustrated
	Scientific American
	Ships Monthly
	Spectator
	Stones Justice Manual
	Sun
	Sunday Mirror
	Sunday People
	Sunday Telegraph
	Sunday Times
	Surveyor
	The Engineer
	The Times
	Today ’ s Railways
	Tramways Urban Transit
	Transport Times
	Travel Trade Gazette
	Ultimate Highways
	Visor Down
	What Car
	Yachting Monthly

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of (a) dairy cows and (b) beef cattle in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Wales, (v) Northern Ireland and (vi) each county in England in (A) 1997, (B) 2002, (C) 2007 and (D) 2012; and what proportion of animals in each such category was slaughtered as a result of contacting tuberculosis.

David Heath: holding answer 29 October 2012
	I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the Library of the House.
	Quality assurance work is currently being carried out on historic country and county level bovine tuberculosis statistics, including the number slaughtered as a result of contracting tuberculosis, and these are not all currently available. These will be published during the next few months.
	Great Britain statistics are available at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/landuselivestock/cattletb/national/
	The number of cattle compulsorily slaughtered for bovine tuberculosis in 2012 so far (January to July inclusive) is:
	
		
			  Number 
			 England 15,705 
			 Wales 5,426 
			 Scotland 198 
		
	
	County level population data for 1997 is not readily available, so 1995 has been presented instead.
	The population data for 2007 and 2010 is sourced from the Cattle Tracing Scheme administrative data, rather than statistical data as in earlier years. County data for 2010 relates to commercial holdings only, whereas earlier years relates to all holdings. The data is broadly comparable over time, though the impact of changes may be greater in some counties.
	DEFRA does not have responsibility for the production and publication of livestock population statistics for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost of managing the (a) spread and (b) virulence of disease has been in (i) badgers and (ii) cattle in (A) 1997, (B) 2002, (C) 2007 and (D) 2012.

David Heath: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The answer could be provided in the requested format only at disproportionate costs exceeding the disproportionate cost limit of £850 for parliamentary questions.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans he has to release data on the location of herds that have had positive tests for bovine tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effects on disease control of the policy on non-disclosure of data relating to positive tests for bovine TB; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: Data on the location of herds that have tested positive to bovine TB are not normally disclosed as they are personal data and to release them would constitute a breach of confidence.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has conducted on bovine TB that covers links between badger populations and declining hedgehog and bee populations.

David Heath: Badgers are an important predator of hedgehogs and both species eat similar invertebrates, such as earthworms and beetles. DEFRA funded research project ZF0531: Ecological consequences of removing badgers from an ecosystem, which assessed the consequences of removing badgers from an ecosystem using information collected as part of the randomised badger culling trial. It found that the hedgehog population density increased by more than 100% in the proactive cull areas, in comparison to the no-cull control areas where they experienced a slight decline. This effect was limited to amenity grassland areas in and near villages. It can be concluded that the removal of badgers from an ecosystem, could result in a significant increase in hedgehog abundance.
	DEFRA has not funded any research in to the link between badger populations and declining bee populations.

Farmers: Income

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the effect of food prices, fuel costs and wet weather on farm incomes; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: Provisional estimates of farm incomes for the year ending February 2013, which will include provision for the impact of these factors on farm incomes, will be published on 24 January 2013 at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/farmmanage/fbs/publications/fbsincomes/

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many enforcement officers were employed by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in each of the last five years; and how many such officers were based in each region;
	(2)  how many enforcement officers will be employed by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in each of the next three years; and how many such officers will be based in each region.

David Heath: The number of enforcement officers employed by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority over the period in question is set out in the following table. Figures for years 2013-14 and 2014-15 are estimates in the current spending review period.
	
		
			  Actual Forecast 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 North 10 10 11 14 13 10 9 8 
			 East 11 8 8 10 10 7 7 6 
			 West 7 6 13 13 12 8 7 6 
			 South-east 0 3 8 10 10 8 8 7 
			 Total 28 27 40 47 45 33 31 27 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are number of staff employed and include one operational head per region. 2. During 2007-08 and 2008-09 figures include compliance officers prior to the role being consolidated with that of enforcement officer. (3 )South East region was part of East region prior to 2008-09.

Horses: Databases

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department will take to manage equine disease and abandoned horses following the closure of the National Equine Database in September 2012; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: The primary function of the horse passport regime is to protect the human food chain. The National Equine Database (NED) did not contain horse location data, nor did it record animal movement data, and was therefore of very limited use in the event of disease incursion or for tackling the problem of abandoned horses, which are generally unidentified.
	It remains a requirement to report suspicion of notifiable equine disease to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency. DEFRA aims to eradicate disease swiftly through the use of proportionate movement restrictions and the humane slaughter of infected animals where necessary, returning the country to disease free status as quickly as possible.
	On 30 October, Lord de Mauley discussed the apparent rise in the number of abandoned horses with the RSPCA and is considering a number of solutions proposed as a result.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Richard Benyon: The libraries of core DEFRA subscribe to the following magazines, journals and newspapers:
	Agra Europe
	Agra Facts
	Agricultural and Resources Economics Review
	Agricultural Economics
	Amateur Gardening
	American Journal of Agricultural Economics
	Animal Pharm
	Animal Welfare
	Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics
	Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics
	Cattle and Sheep Market Weekly
	Civil Service World
	Common Agricultural Policy Monitor
	Computeractive
	Country Life
	Country Living
	Country Smallholding
	Criminal Law Week
	Daily Mail
	Daily Telegraph
	Ecological Economics
	The Economist
	Ends Europe Daily
	Ends Report
	Environment and Development Economics
	European Review of Agricultural Economics
	Farm Brief
	Farm Law
	Farm Management Pocketbook
	Farmers Guardian
	Farmers Weekly
	Farming Business
	The Field
	Financial Times
	Fishing News
	Food Manufacture
	Food News
	Forestry and Timber News
	Forestry Journal
	Freedom of Information Journal
	Fresh Produce Journal
	The Grocer
	Grow your Own
	The Guardian
	Harvard Business Review
	HGCA Market Data
	HGCA Market Report
	HGCA Prospects
	Horticulture Week
	The House
	The Independent
	Information World Review
	Inside Track
	Institute of Translation and Interpreting Bulletin
	International Grains Council Grain Market Report
	Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
	Journal of Agricultural Economics
	Journal of Agricultural Science
	Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
	Journal of Farm Management
	Journal of Planning and Environment Law
	Journal of Political Economy
	Journal of Rural Studies
	Land and Business
	Land Economics
	Law Society's Gazette
	Marine Scientist
	Meat Trades Journal
	Monthly Farm Update
	Nature
	New Law Journal
	New Scientist
	New Statesman
	Official Journal OnlinePlus
	Pig Market Weekly
	Poultry World
	Public Ledger
	Red Machinery Guide
	Research Europe
	Research Fortnight
	Review of Environmental Economics and Policy
	Science
	Scientific American
	The Spectator
	The Times
	Trout and Salmon
	Warmer Bulletin
	Waste Management and Research
	Weekly Law Reports Parts

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Richard Benyon: The libraries for core DEFRA spent £85,434 on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the 12-month period ending 26 October 2012.

Sheep: Transport

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the recommended length of time is for Animal Health to conduct an inspection of (a) 1,000 and (b) 3,000 sheep that are in the process of being transported.

David Heath: There are no times laid down for inspections. The time taken is dependent on the circumstances at the time the inspection is undertaken.

Staff

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of his Department's staff are (a) male and (b) female.

Richard Benyon: As at 30 September 2012, 50.3% of core DEFRA staff were male and 49.7% were female.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Sequestration

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of delays to the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Commercialisation Programme on the ability of UK CCS projects to access EU NER 300 funding;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Commercialisation Programme funding on the ability of UK CCS projects to access EU NER 300 funding.

John Hayes: holding answer 29 October 2012
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement laid before the House on 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 10-12WS, in which the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), provides an update on the Carbon Capture and Storage Commercialisation programme and NER300 funding.

Climate Change: Developing Countries

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assistance the Government is giving as a member of the OECD to help the poorest countries adapt to climate change.

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for International Development.
	The UK reports annually to the OECD Development Assistance Committee on its support to developing countries to cope with the effects of climate change and develop in a low carbon way. The UK's International Climate Fund will provide £2.9 billion of climate finance from within existing aid commitments from 2011 to 2015, of which it is aimed that 50% will be for adaptation to climate change.

Energy: Conservation

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what audit checks his Department undertakes on money given to energy companies for the (a) warm homes discount and (b) other schemes.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change does not give money directly to energy companies. However, a number of government policies including the warm homes discount place the obligation of financing the policies onto energy companies. In the case of the warm home discount, the Warm Home Discount Scheme Regulations (2011) require the participating energy companies to provide direct and indirect support worth £1.13 billion over the four years of the scheme. As this funding is mandated by the Government it is classified as public expenditure, but levy funded. It is the Department's responsibility to ensure that this mandatory commitment is delivered and that expenditure to take place in the intended manner. The scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by Ofgem who are responsible for delivering an annual audit programme covering the activities of all participating energy suppliers under the WHD scheme to help assess compliance with regulations. In addition, Ofgem commissions internal audits of its own internal systems and processes for administering the scheme. Further details of how this was achieved for the first year of the scheme can be found in the Warm Home Discount Scheme Annual Report Scheme Year 1, Chapter 7 (page 29):
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environment/WHDS/Documents1/WHD_AR_08_Oct_2012.pdf
	Ofgem will continue to carry out audits of supplier compliance with the WHD regulations, taking a risk-based approach, across scheme years two-four of the scheme.
	There are a number of other schemes which the Department for Energy and Climate Change deliver which are administered by Ofgem, and are subject to similar audit arrangements as for the WHD scheme. All of these schemes are funded indirectly, with the energy companies obligated to provide the funding. Details about the levy mechanism and which schemes are included maybe found at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/funding-support/fuel-poverty/3290-control-fwork-decc-levyfunded-spending.pdf.
	In addition to these levies, the CERT and CESP obligations on energy companies operate in a similar fashion and are also managed by Ofgem and subject to a similar audit regime.

Energy: Conservation

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects of a delay in the full implementation of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation.

Gregory Barker: On 1 October, the Green Deal legal framework came into force alongside measures to strengthen consumer protection and reduce industry burdens. This gave industry the green light to bring the Green Deal energy efficiency market into operation.
	It is up to companies to decide the right time and the best way to enter the market. My Department is encouraged by the level of interest so far expressed to the Green Deal oversight and registration body.
	Subject to parliamentary approval, the related Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) framework is scheduled to be in place by 1 January 2013, following a short consultation on the application of in-use factors (the in-situ performance of energy efficiency measures) in ECO scoring.
	The final Green Deal and ECO impact assessment, published in June this year, assumed that there would be no significant ECO activity before January 2013, therefore we do not expect the delay to the ECO framework to impact our estimated levels of ECO delivery. However, energy companies are able to count any ECO-related activity delivered from 1 October 2012 against their ECO targets.

Green Deal Scheme

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what preparations his Department has made to ensure Green Deal finance is fully operational from January 2013.

Gregory Barker: Green Deal providers, who are responsible for arranging finance for their Green Deal offers, will be able to offer Green Deal plans to consumers from 28 January 2013, Although the Government will not be providing finance directly under the Green Deal, my officials are working closely with financiers such as The Green Deal Finance Company to encourage the development of the market in the lead up to 28 January 2013 and beyond.
	The Department does have responsibility, however, for ensuring that the systems and processes behind the Green Deal, including payment remittance, work effectively for those Green Deal providers who are ready to offer Green Deal plans on 28 January 2013. Therefore my officials have been working with representative market players—including electricity suppliers, prospective Green Deal providers, and financiers—to undertake robust, end-to-end testing of the Green Deal framework. This testing has the objective of ensuring that the systems and processes behind the Green Deal function as intended, providing assurance that key market players will themselves be able to interact with and operate Green Deal systems and processes, and that the marketplace offers a user- and consumer-friendly experience from day one.

Staff

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of his Department's staff are (a) male and (b) female.

Gregory Barker: The proportion of staff in Department of Energy and Climate Change staff who are:
	(a) male is 53.8%; and
	(b) female is 46.2%.
	This information relates to civil servants as of 30 September 2012.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by the sobriety pilot scheme.

Jeremy Wright: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	There are two separate pilots of sobriety. A proof of concept pilot testing a sobriety condition as part of an adult conditional caution commenced in May 2012 in five criminal justice areas. The pilot is expected to last for 12 months. In addition, a new alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement as part of a community sentence was introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and we are working to establish a pilot, as required by the legislation, before making this available nationwide.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the announcement by the Scottish Government that it will delay implementation of its plans for a minimum unit price for alcohol until legal proceedings against the measure have been settled.

Jeremy Browne: The Alcohol Strategy, published earlier this year, sets out the Government's commitment to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol. The Government will consult on this, and a number of other proposals in the strategy, this autumn.
	The Government continues to monitor the Scottish Government's progress in implementing a minimum unit price and will consider any issues arising alongside the consultation.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to launch the consultation on the level at which a minimum unit price for alcohol should be set in England and Wales.

Jeremy Browne: The Alcohol Strategy, published earlier this year, set out the Government's commitment to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol. The Government will consult on this, and a number of other proposals in the strategy, this autumn.

Arrests

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will conduct an assessment of variations in the level of arrests for specific criminal offences and the reasons for these variations.

Damian Green: There are no plans for analysis into the variations in arrests for specific offences.
	Police forces are only required to provide arrests data aggregated to offence groupings to the Home Office as a part of the annual data requirement.

Asylum

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers in the UK have entered the EU through (a) the UK and (b) another EU member state as their first point of entry.

Mark Harper: The information is as follows:
	(a) Statistics on asylum applications made in the UK can be found at the attached link and are in the following table:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research
	
		
			  Asylum applications made in the UK 
			 2007 23,431 
			 2008 25,932 
			 2009 24,487 
			 2010 17,916 
			 2011 19,804 
		
	
	In the last five years the following numbers of cases have been accepted for consideration for removal to an EU member state based on evidence received at the time of their asylum application in the UK. The majority of these were considered under the Dublin II Regulation which establishes the principle that only one member state is responsible for examining an asylum application. This guards against abuse of the system by ‘asylum shopping’, where one person submits multiple asylum claims in different member states, and prevents asylum claims bouncing between member states.
	
		
			  Accepted for consideration for removal from the UK to a safe third country 
			 2007 1,792 
			 2008 2,433 
			 2009 2,693 
			 2010 1,633 
			 2011 1,557

Asylum

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been returned to another EU member state by destination in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The following table details the number of asylum claimants returned to another EU member state under the Dublin Regulation and destination breakdown:
	
		
			 Member state 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Austria 48 32 31 31 35 
			 Belgium 54 49 47 41 66 
			 Bulgaria 3 5 2 4 8 
			 Cyprus 4 3 1 — — 
			 Czech Republic 5 10 6 3 4 
			 Denmark 10 9 9 8 13 
			 Estonia — — 1 — — 
			 Finland 3 3 8 3 4 
			 France 141 105 112 114 140 
			 Germany 149 155 138 133 121 
		
	
	
		
			 Greece 187 281 238 45 — 
			 Hungary 1 9 19 9 13 
			 Iceland — — — — — 
			 Ireland 40 47 57 81 98 
			 Italy 368 418 208 546 372 
			 Latvia 1 — — 2 — 
			 Lithuania — — 1 — 1 
			 Luxembourg 4 4 3 4 1 
			 Malta 18 31 35 11 11 
			 Netherlands 42 24 20 26 20 
			 Norway 25 12 12 30 26 
			 Poland 2 2 2 5 5 
			 Portugal 2 1 6 — 1 
			 Romania — 3 3 3 4 
			 Slovakia 18 16 11 18 13 
			 Slovenia 1 2 — 2 2 
			 Spain 7 5 8 4 13 
			 Sweden 24 20 24 28 24 
			 Switzerland — — 3 11 16 
			 Total 1157 1246 1005 1162 1011 
			 Note: Statistics in tables are based on management information data that is not quality assured under National Statistics protocols. The figures do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

Borders: Personal Records

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely total expenditure on the e-Borders programme.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency is not currently able to confirm the detailed spend on the e-Borders programme, but will be able to do this once the binding arbitration following the termination of the contract with Raytheon Systems Ltd is complete.

Cannabis

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effect on (a) dealing and (b) use of cannabis since it was reclassified as a Class B drug.

Jeremy Browne: The Government have made no formal assessment of the effect on the ‘dealing’ and use of cannabis since it was reclassified as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in January 2009. The likely effects of the reclassification of cannabis were evaluated in the regulatory impact assessment (IA), produced to accompany the legislative Order. The IA is available at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/3130/pdfs/uksiem_20083130_en.pdf

Drugs: Crime

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many raids were conducted during the Metropolitan Police's Operation Hawk; how many arrests were made; and how many prosecutions resulted from that operation;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Metropolitan police's Operation Hawk; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: Operation Hawk is Metropolitan police’s, London wide initiative to tackle drug-related crime at the local level. It is an ongoing programme across all 32 Metropolitan police boroughs to address community concerns about drug related crime. On 20 September 2012 an Operation Hawk 'day of action' resulted in more than 460 warrants with over 350 arrests being made. In the four week period from 21 September to 21 October 2012 police across the 32 boroughs executed an additional 883 drugs warrants as result of the ongoing Operation Hawk activity. Data on the number of prosecutions resulting from the 'day of action' is not collated centrally by the Metropolitan police.
	The Home Office has not commissioned or evaluated research on the effectiveness of the Metropolitan police's Operation Hawk.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many temporary class drug orders have been issued since the inception of that order; and in relation to what drugs they were issued.

Jeremy Browne: The Government placed methoxetamine under a temporary class drug order in the UK on 5 April 2012, following consultation with the Advisory Council on the misuse of drugs. Methoxetamine is the first and only temporary class drug in the UK so far.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent comparative assessment she has made of the UK's drugs policy and those of other countries.

Jeremy Browne: Direct comparative assessments have not been made between the UK's drugs policy and the drugs policies of other countries. Such comparison is difficult, as data gathering methods vary and drug misuse patterns are affected by national characteristics. The Government does, however, continue to monitor evidence on what works in other countries, as we committed to do in the 2010 UK Drug Strategy.

Drugs: Sentencing

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the length of sentences given to convicted Class A drug dealers; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	We have received no recent representations on the length of sentences given to convicted Class A drug dealers.
	Class A drug dealing offences all carry a maximum penalty of a life sentence. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years' imprisonment for a third Class A drug trafficking offence. Within these limits, sentencing is entirely a matter for the courts taking account of all the circumstances of each case. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences earlier this year, following full public consultation. The courts have a duty to follow the guideline when sentencing drug offenders but may depart from it in a particular case if it would be in the interests of justice to do so.

Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on ending the detention of children in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

Mark Harper: The detention of families overnight in Dungavel ceased in May 2010.

Female Genital Mutilation

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the powers available to tackle the practice of female genital mutilation.

Jeremy Browne: This Government is satisfied that there are a number of powers to tackle the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). In February 2011, we launched multi-agency practice guidelines which clearly set out the range of powers available to the police and other agencies. This is available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/FGM?view=Binary

Female Genital Mutilation

Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of female genital mutilation have been recorded by the police in the UK over the last 10 years; how many such complaints resulted in criminal investigation; and how many such investigations led to prosecutions.

Jeremy Browne: Information on the number of complaints recorded by the police and the number of complaints resulting in criminal investigations in to female genital mutilation (FGM) is not held centrally.
	There have been no prosecutions of cases of FGM under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.

Hormone Treatments: Exports

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for export licences for human growth hormone have been refused in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: A total of 24 export licences for human growth hormone (HGH) have been cancelled in the last three years. In 2010, the Home Office did not hold records for the number of export licences cancelled for HGH. In 2011, one export licence for HGH was cancelled. In 2012 to date, 23 export licences for HGH were cancelled. All licences were cancelled in accordance with drugs legislation.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many decisions on trafficking made under the National Referral Mechanism by (a) the UK Border Agency Competent Authority and (b) the UK Human Trafficking Centre Competent Authority have been taken to Judicial Review in each year since April 2009; and how many such reviews have resulted in a decision being reversed.

Mark Harper: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The Judicial Review of UK Border Agency Competent Authority decisions under the National Referral Mechanism can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			  Cases referred to the NRM Decisions challenged at Judicial Review Decisions reversed as a result of Judicial Review 
			 2009(1) 706 4 1 
			 2010 710 2 0 
			 2011 946 6 2 
			 2012 (2)530 (3)5 (3)1 
			 Total to date 2,892 17 4 
			 (1) 1 April 2009 to 31 December 2009 only. (2) Published data (1 January 2012 to 30 June 2012). (3) Year to date (1 January 2012 to 29 October 2012). 
		
	
	(b) There have been no Judicial Reviews of UK Human Trafficking Centre Competent Authority decisions under the National Referral Mechanism.
	This data is based on regionally held management information and as such has not been quality assured as part of the production of National Statistics outputs. It is provisional and subject to change.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of non-UK EU nationals who have entered the UK and who have a criminal conviction.

Mark Harper: The Home Office does not routinely receive or record details of non-UK EU nationals who have a criminal conviction outside the UK.

Members: Correspondence

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye dated 5 July 2012, ref: AR/EOR/0731.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency's chief executive, Rob Whiteman, wrote on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to my hon. Friend on 1 August 2012.

Police

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was of (a) policing and (b) each constabulary in 2011-12.

Damian Green: The amount allocated in 2011-12 by central Government (including the Neighbourhood Policing Fund) to police authorities in England and Wales to cover the cost of policing is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Constabulary Home Office and DCLG/WAG funding Neighbourhood Policing Fund Total Council Tax Police Precept Total (1) 
			 Avon and Somerset 185,272,685 7,355,989 192,628,674 94,775,890 287,404,564 
			 Bedfordshire 73,181,063 2,763,192 75,944,255 30,037,585 105,981,840 
			 Cambridgeshire 83,445,360 3,655,935 87,101,295 46,900,161 134,001,456 
			 Cheshire 122,745,898 4,848,634 127,594,532 54,455,791 182,050,323 
			 Cleveland 97,619,318 2,965,280 100,584,598 31,999,196 132,583,794 
			 Cumbria 69,181,836 2,348,850 71,530,686 34,312,476 105,843,162 
			 Derbyshire 115,995,773 3,680,120 119,675,893 54,160,377 173,836,270 
			 Devon and Cornwall 191,219,760 7,529,509 198,749,269 95,693,883 294,443,152 
			 Dorset 66,893,751 3,264,888 70,158,639 53,220,720 123,379,359 
			 Durham 92,160,141 3,335,802 95,495,943 29,119,342 124,615,285 
			 Essex 183,300,810 7,213,790 190,514,600 85,319,256 275,833,856 
			 Gloucestershire 61,408,478 3,202,314 ,64,610,792 44,670,110 109,280,902 
			 Hampshire 212,255,615 7,609,223 219,864,838 100,797,779 320,662,617 
			 Hertfordshire 124,000,170 5,334,630 129,334,800 66,411,823 195,746,623 
			 Humberside 130,333,323 4,761,195 135,094,518 47,977,845 183,072,363 
			 Kent 199,503,999 8,052,821 207,556,820 88,139,695 295,696,515 
			 Lancashire 207,086,286 8,211,441 215,297,727 68,563,531 283,861,258 
			 Leicestershire 120,410,517 4,722,769 125,133,286 53,980,012 179,113,298 
			 Lincolnshire 67,477,183 2,867,472 70,344,655 42,320,494 112,665,149 
			 Norfolk 90,786,266 3,956,364 94,742,630 57,115,802 151,858,432 
			 Northamptonshire 77,373,534 3,421,706 80,795,240 45,260,925 126,056,165 
			 North Yorkshire 78,952,809 3,049,678 82,002,487 61,288,570 143,291,057 
			 Nottinghamshire 143,875,317 5,487,199 149,362,516 53,283,944 202,646,460 
			 Staffordshire 123,101,875 4,477,838 127,579,713 63,793,986 191,373,699 
		
	
	
		
			 Suffolk 73,168,884 3,071,927 76,240,811 41,211,916 117,452,727 
			 Surrey 105,291,969 4,445,487 109,737,456 98,413,086 208,150,542 
			 Sussex 174,829,220 7,231,326 182,060,546 87,020,559 269,081,105 
			 Thames Valley 247,551,698 9,178,280 256,729,978 134,896,712 391,626,690 
			 Warwickshire 55,285,838 2,772,394 58,058,232 35,063,478 93,121,710 
			 West Mercia 126,203,606 5,355,921 131,559,527 79,027,416 210,586,943 
			 Wiltshire 66,967,404 2,821,207 69,788,611 39,622,160 109,410,771 
			 Greater Manchester 468,502,936 17,396,374 485,899,310 115,998,309 601,897,619 
			 Merseyside 271,248,259 9,883,808 281,132,067 61,503,600 342,635,667 
			 Northumbria 250,982,853 8,976,290 259,959,143 36,477,334 296,436,477 
			 South Yorkshire 205,289,845 6,598,165 211,888,010 50,757,659 262,645,669 
			 West Midlands 497,784,836 15,998,410 513,783,246 79,650,309 593,433,555 
			 West Yorkshire 343,535,303 14,340,485 357,875,788 89,034,903 446,910,691 
			 Metropolitan 2,025,579,644 101,869,119 2,127,448,763 687,420,356 2,814,869,119 
			 City of London 61,583,731 1,268,712 62,852,443 (2)— (2)— 
			 Dyfed-Powys 57,922,860 1,646,340 59,569,200 39,413,816 98,983,016 
			 Gwent 83,215,423 2,962,697 86,178,120 38,492,870 124,670,990 
			 North Wales 83,100,718 3,337,809 86,438,527 58,435,804 144,874,331 
			 South Wales 182,504,941 6,728,610 189,233,551 74,842,145 264,075,696 
			 Total 8,298,131,735 340,000,000 8,638,131,735 3,250,881,625 11,826,160,917 
			 (1) Funding does not include counter-terrorism funding, funding for private finance initiatives, the 2011 council tax freeze grant and additional contingency funding. (2) The City of London is not included as it is a joint police and education authority.

Police Negotiating Board

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) discussions and (b) correspondence she had with (i) Scottish Government Ministers and (ii) the Scottish Police Federation prior to the announcement of the closure of the Police Negotiating Board.

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she had with the Northern Ireland Justice Minister prior to her decision to abolish the Police Negotiating Board.

Damian Green: holding answer 30 October 2012
	Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Police: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many front-line police officers were employed in Cumbria in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary defined the front line in its 2010 Demanding Times report as comprising those who are in everyday contact with the public and who directly intervene to keep people safe and enforce the law. Applying this definition to Home Office policing functions data for police officers employed in Cumbria for each of the last five years, figures are provided within the table.
	Despite the reduction in officer numbers crime in Cumbria fell by 3% during 2011-12.
	This demonstrates police reform is working and crime is falling.
	
		
			 Number of front-line police officers employed in Cumbria, 2007-08 to 2011-12 (1,2,3) 
			  Number of front-line police officers 
			 2011-12 962 
			 2010-11 1,009 
			 2009-10 1,060 
			 2008-09 1,092 
			 2007-08 1,017 
			 (1) This table contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Definition of frontline policing are based on the HMIC definition for 2011 within the Demanding Times and Adapting to Austerity report. Data for previous years have reflected any changes to function categories and these functions have been reconciled with the 2011 definition. (3) Source: Home Office using data received from police forces via the Annual Data Requirement (ADR 601), HMIC—2010 Demanding Times report.

Police: Early Retirement

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have taken early retirement in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: Figures on the number of police officers who have taken early retirement in each of the last five years are not collected centrally.

Police: Pensions

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving members of the police are exempt from the Police Pension Scheme cut-off at 10 years to retirement owing to their decision to become part-time during the course of their service; and if she will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of cancelling that exemption.

Damian Green: No police officers are exempt from transitional protection as a result of part-time service. The arrangements for transitional protection apply regardless of whether pensionable service has been accrued through full-time or part-time working.

Police: Pensions

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving members of the police, who joined as police cadets, would be eligible for the transitional pension arrangements had they joined as full officers.

Damian Green: This information is not collected centrally.

Theft: Metals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the proportion of scrap metal dealers who engage in illegal activity concerning stolen scrap metal.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office has not made an assessment but the Association of Chief Police Officers believes that scrap metal dealers provide the principal outlet for stolen metal in the UK which is estimated to cost the UK between £220 million (Deloitte, 2011) and £770 million (the Association of Chief Police Officers, 2010) per annum.
	The British Transport police are undertaking, through the work of the National Metal Theft Taskforce, a risk assessment for every scrap metal dealer in the UK. This will consider a number of factors including previous evidence of criminal handling and disposal of stolen metals, previous offending history, as well as intelligence and compliance with Scrap Metal Dealers and Environmental Protection Acts. The National Metal Theft Taskforce aims to assess 90% of all scrap metal dealers across the UK by the end of this financial year which will contribute to the prioritisation of future compliance and enforcement action.

Theft: Metals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the metal theft taskforce in reducing the incidence of metal theft.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office receives monthly progress reports from the British Transport police on the National Metal Theft Taskforce. Police forces are reporting significant reductions in recorded metal thefts this year with British Transport police recording metal thefts down by 51% in the period between April and August 2012 compared with the same period last year. This will be down to a number of factors including the success of Operation Tornado which voluntarily requires scrap metal dealers to request and record proof of the sellers' identity. With the introduction of cashless trading in December, and wider regulatory reforms proposed in the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill, including on identification and record keeping, metal theft offences and the damage they cause should continue to reduce.

UK Border Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to ensure that UK Border Agency officers receive specific training in processing cases of women seeking asylum who have experienced domestic violence in their home country; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency has recently implemented a programme of mandatory training for all asylum decision makers and their managers dealing with gender issues in the asylum claim. The training has been designed in conjunction with Asylum Aid and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It focuses on improving the quality of interviewing and decision making in respect of asylum claims being made by women, taking into account issues such as domestic violence and related trauma. All relevant staff should have received this training by the end of 2012.
	The agency has also recently delivered gender sensitivity training to staff in the Asylum Screening Unit.

Work Permits: Shipping

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2012, Official Report, columns 670-1W, on work permits, which section of the points-based immigration system would apply to a non-EEA seafarer travelling to the UK to take up a job skilled below NQF 6 level aboard a vessel flying a flag of convenience working between a UK port and the Channel Islands.

Mark Harper: Work permits are not required by non-European economic area crew members of vessels working routes between UK ports and Channel Island ports, irrespective of the flags under which the vessels are operating. Such seamen, therefore, will not need to apply for entry clearance or leave to remain under the points-based system.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Candidates: Disability

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to assist people with disabilities to become Members of Parliament.

Chloe Smith: The Government launched the Access to Elected Office Strategy on 9 July to provide practical support for disabled people who. want to become an elected representative.
	As part of this strategy, we have set up a new fund to help individual candidates with disability related costs; provided new training and development opportunities for people who are interested in a political career, including launching an introductory online training course and paid internships on the Speaker's Parliamentary Placement scheme; and produced new online guidance on reasonable adjustments to help political parties meet their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
	The £2.6 million fund will be open for applications until the end of March 2014 and will help potential candidates overcome disability related barriers, such as difficulties in using public transport or paying for sign language interpreters. The strategy has been designed to level the playing field for potential disabled candidates and tackle the currently low levels of disabled people in public life.

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury expects to conclude the Trident Alternatives Review; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), to the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) on 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 35W. The Trident Alternatives Review is currently expected to report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the end of the year.

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will place in the public domain a summary of the Trident Alternatives Review;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of the Secretary of State for Defence of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 36W, on Trident, whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury plans to publish the Trident Alternatives Review in full to assist Liberal Democrats in assessing the case for any alternative systems to Trident;
	(3)  whether he plans to publish the Trident Alternatives Review in full to assist Liberal Democrats in assessing the case for any alternative systems to Trident.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	The Government's position remains, as previously announced, that there are no plans to publish either the report itself or the information it draws upon due to its highly classified nature. It is too early to speculate about what it might be possible to say publicly about the conclusions when the review has been completed.

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff, and from which Departments, are working on the Trident Alternatives Review; and how many of those staff worked on the 2006 White Paper entitled The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	The review is being led by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, with two dedicated staff working on the review full-time. They are drawing on expertise held in other Government Departments, primarily the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on an as-required basis.
	None of the dedicated Cabinet Office team leading the review worked on the 2006 White Paper ‘The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent’. Some of the subject matter experts from the Ministry of Defence were involved in aspects of the analysis that informed the White Paper.

Trident

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what external assistance and technical consultancy his Department has commissioned for the Trident Alternatives Review; and how much it has spent on each piece of work commissioned to date.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	None.
	The review draws upon technical advice from subject matter experts within Her Majesty's Government on an as-required basis

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the rate of alcohol-specific hospital admissions for under 18 year olds in Redditch.

Anna Soubry: The Government's Alcohol Strategy, published on 23 March, brings together the Government's approach to reducing the incidence of alcohol-related disease and crime.
	This included a commitment to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol and actions to ensure local licensing authorities have the powers they need to prevent harm in their communities. Evidence shows that these actions should reduce harm to young people.
	The strategy announced that the Government will ensure that young people know the risks associated with alcohol by making it a key feature of a new youth marketing programme aimed to drive further reductions in drinking for those aged between 11 and 19.
	The Change4Life campaign, provides advice and guidance to adults on lower-risk drinking.
	The Department will work with practitioners, the Royal Colleges and the Association of Directors of Children's Services to develop a model that ensures young people who attend accident and emergency departments due to alcohol receive proper follow-up and care.
	The chief medical officer's alcohol guidelines for young people were published in 2009, and the guidelines say that young people under 15 should not drink alcohol at all.

Ambulance Services

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many emergency ambulance call-outs were made in (a) Birmingham and (b) England in each of the last three years.

Anna Soubry: The numbers (in thousands) of emergency calls and emergency incidents (calls resulting in a response arriving at the scene of the incident) for the west midlands and England for each of the last three years are displayed in the following table:
	
		
			 Number (thousand) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Emergency calls    
			 West midlands 844.1 863.8 883.9 
			 England 7,867.9 8,077.5 8,493.0 
			     
			 Emergency incidents (1)    
			 West midlands 708.8 730.4 745.7 
			 England 6,415.2 6,606.5 6,710.6 
			 (1) Calls resulting in response arriving at the scene of the incident. Data source: KA34

Ambulance Services

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was of each ambulance trust in England and Wales in 2011-12.

Anna Soubry: The Department collects data on total income, total expenditure and surplus/(deficit) of each ambulance trust in England for the 2011-12. This information is displayed in the following table. The Department does not collect data from Welsh NHS bodies.
	
		
			 £000 
			 Organisation Total operating expenses Total income Surplus/(deficit) 
			 East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 167,170 169,565 2,395 
			 East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust 223,811 226,949 3,138 
			 Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust 91,034 89,745 (1,289) 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 278,770 282,012 3,242 
			 North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust 59,225 61,462 2,237 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 258,569 259,244 675 
			 South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust 126,066 126,590 524 
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 196,644 197,366 722 
			 Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 200,456 200,363 (93)

Ambulance Services: Pay

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in the ambulance services received salaries of over £60,000 in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2011-12.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available in the format requested.
	An estimated 550 staff employed by ambulance trusts received total earnings of over £60,000 in 2011-12.
	This estimate is based on unvalidated data held on the Electronic Staff Record Data Warehouse. It relates to the number of staff for whom the sum of payments made between April 2011 and March 2012 is in excess of £60,000. Information on the earnings staff are contracted to earn is not held centrally.

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not specifically monitor the average time taken to make payments to commercial suppliers as this is not a target that has been set. The Department operates standard contractual payment terms of 30 days.
	However, the Department has signed up to the Government's Prompt Payment policy under which the target is to pay all valid supplier invoices that are received at the nominated address within five days of receipt (this replaced the 10 day target in January 2010). Performance against this target is expected to be published on the Department's website within six days of the previous month.
	The percentages of payments to commercial suppliers made within five, 10 and 30 days in the last three financial years are as follows.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Within five days Within 10 days Within 30 days 
			 2009-10 n/a 90.20 97.79 
			 2010-11 71.11 86.72 97.65 
			 2011-12 73.60 86.42 95.56

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not currently collect data on the cost of processing invoices for payment.
	Since August 2006 all invoices from suppliers are paid electronically. The Department does not make any cheque payments.

Care Quality Commission

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the arrangements in place to follow up and where necessary to enforce inspections made by the Care Quality Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and. it is responsible for assessing whether providers are meeting registration requirements. The CQC may use unannounced inspection visits in coming to their judgments. The timing of re-inspections may be based on the level of risk to people identified by previous work.
	The CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers it can use. Failure to comply with these registration requirements is an offence and the CQC is able to take independent statutory enforcement action, including, issuing a warning notice; imposing, varying and removing conditions of registration; issuing a monetary penalty notice for prescribed offences; prosecuting for offences; suspending registration; and cancelling registration.
	The Department undertook a Performance and Capability Review of the CQC to provide robust assurance to the public, the Department and Parliament that CQC is improving its performance and that action will be taken to build and sustain its capability for the future. The report was published on 23 February 2012 and made a number of recommendations around the development and delivery of the regulatory model. The CQC has welcomed the findings of the Performance and Capability Review and has published its formal response and action plan. A copy of “CQC Performance and Capability Review—Response and Action Plan” has already been placed in the Library.

Care Quality Commission

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many inspections have been carried out by the Care Quality Commission in West Sussex in the last 18 months; and what the results of those inspections were.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of essential levels of safety and quality of health and adult social care services. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities, including NHS and independent providers, have to register with the CQC and meet a set of essential requirements of safety and quality.
	The CQC has provided the following information:
	The first table refers to number of inspections completed and published in the area of West Sussex local authority from 1 April 2011 to 29 October 2012 by sector. The second table gives the percentage of those services that were judged to be either compliant or non-compliant and the percentage that resulted in enforcement action.
	
		
			 Sector Compliant Non compliant with at least one outcome Total 
			 Independent Healthcare Organisation 10 3 13 
			 NHS Healthcare Organisation 15 1 16 
			 Primary Dental Care 23 3 26 
			 Social Care Organisation 306 140 446 
			 Total 354 147 501 
		
	
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Sector Compliant Non compliant with at least one outcome Inspections that resulted in enforcement action 
			 Independent Healthcare Organisation 76.9 23.1 0 
			 NHS Healthcare Organisation 93.8 6.3 0 
			 Primary Dental Care 88.5 11.5 0 
			 Social Care Organisation 68.6 31.4 (1)2.7 
			 Total 70.7 29.3 — 
			 (1) The CQC issued 12 warning notices to 12 separate social care locations in West Sussex local authority area since April 2011. This equates to 2.7% of the 446 inspections of social care services that took place during this period.

Food: Contamination

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the permissible levels of (a) lead and (b) cadmium in food contact materials; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) lead on this issue. We are advised that the European Commission has recently proposed revision of the existing limits set out in European Union legislation for the release of lead and cadmium from ceramic-ware intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. This was prompted by the publication of two European Food Safety Authority opinions published in 2009 (cadmium) and 2010 (lead) that suggested there is a need to reduce exposure to cadmium and lead at the population level. The FSA supports these opinions with a view to safeguarding consumers' health in relation to food and drink.
	The FSA has issued an informal consultation to all relevant stakeholders to further understand the implications of these proposals. UK industry is in the process of collating data on the release of lead and cadmium into food and the appropriateness of current test methods. The FSA will consider this data in developing the UK's negotiating lines in Europe.

Food: Labelling

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  within what timescale he expects compulsory front-of-pack food labelling to be introduced;
	(2)  whether his Department has given consideration to introducing compulsory health warnings on food products with higher than 50 per cent of guideline daily amounts in a portion.

Anna Soubry: Under the EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, front of pack nutrition labelling by businesses is voluntary. On 24 October, the United Kingdom Governments announced a proposed approach to front of pack nutrition labelling based on percentage guideline daily amount and colour coding. Colours clearly indicate foods that are high in salt fat and sugars and percentage guideline daily amounts give further information on the amount a given portion contributes to the diet.
	The UK Governments will continue to work with partner organisations on the detail of the scheme to build as wide a consensus as possible across the food industry.

General Practitioners

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2012, Official Report, columns 428-9W, on general practitioners, what assessment the NHS Commissioning Board has made of the suitability of applicants.

Anna Soubry: As the authorisation process for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is still under way, during which the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will make an assessment of viability of the CCGs' leadership, we are unable to confirm how many individual leaders the NHS CB has deemed suitable.

Jam

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's advice is to jam makers regarding the re-use of jam jars.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) lead on this issue. We are advised there is European Union legislation in place, that applies to food businesses that are designed to protect consumers from the migration of materials that may be used in the manufacture of containers used to store food.
	The FSA has stated that it is not aware of any evidence that the re-use of jars by charities and individuals for making and selling jams and preserves presents a food safety concern for consumers in terms of materials which may migrate from jam jars into food. Obviously, good hygiene needs to be observed in cleaning jars and food preparation.
	Local authorities are responsible for enforcing these rules but the FSA is not aware of any prosecutions for non-compliance with this legislation when reusing glass jars for jam making since the legislation was introduced in 2004.

Jam

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which glass products currently commercially available are suitable for re-use for the sale of jam.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) lead on this issue.
	We are advised that, in accordance with European Union legislation, new jars and jars produced from the outset for reuse will have appropriate assurances from suppliers as to the jars’ suitability for food contact. The FSA is not aware of any evidence that reusing jam jars presents a food safety concern for consumers in terms of materials which may migrate from jam jars into food.

Maternity Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which free-standing birth centres in the UK (a) opened in the last 12 months, (b) are planned to open in the next 12 months, (c) closed in the last 12 months and (d) are planned to close in the next 12 months.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.

Maternity Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per birth in each hospital in the UK is.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is responsible for healthcare in England.
	The following table sets out the average unit cost of maternity deliveries to national health service trusts and foundation trusts in England in 2010-11.
	
		
			 Organisation name Average unit cost (£) 
			 Airedale NHS Foundation Trust 2,050 
			 Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,680 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 2,545 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 1,955 
			 Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,775 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 1,840 
			 Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,310 
			 Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust 1,595 
			 Bedford Hospital NHS Trust 1,580 
			 Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust 2,170 
			 Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,480 
			 Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,550 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,485 
			 Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 1,740 
			 Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,510 
			 Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust 1,430 
			 Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,615 
			 Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,945 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 3,195 
			 Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,645 
			 City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust 1,840 
			 Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust 1,190 
			 Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,710 
			 County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust 2,125 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 1,895 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 1,975 
		
	
	
		
			 Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,070 
			 Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,165 
			 Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,470 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 2,805 
			 East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 1,810 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 2,070 
			 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 2,095 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 1,695 
			 East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 1,965 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 2,030 
			 Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,715 
			 Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust 2,520 
			 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 2,255 
			 Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,710 
			 Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust 640 
			 Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,820 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 2,460 
			 Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust 2,670 
			 Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust 2,105 
			 Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,780 
			 Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust 1,985 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,520 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 1,865 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 2,055 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 1,430 
			 Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust 2,865 
			 James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,400 
			 Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,645 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,540 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 2,415 
			 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,720 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 1,135 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 2,375 
			 Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust 1,565 
			 Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,705 
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 1,640 
			 Medway NHS Foundation Trust 1,480 
			 Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,480 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 1,585 
			 Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust 1,195 
			 Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 1,545 
			 Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,375 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 1,770 
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,865 
		
	
	
		
			 North Bristol NHS Trust 2,630 
			 North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust 3,305 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 2,740 
			 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust 1,885 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 2,235 
			 Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 3,060 
			 Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 1,260 
			 Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,930 
			 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2,900 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,845 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust 2,255 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 2,365 
			 Peterborough And Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust" 1,940 
			 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 2,160 
			 Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,950 
			 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 2,060 
			 Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust 2,025 
			 Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,870 
			 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 1,435 
			 Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust 1,815 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 2,055 
			 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust 3,135 
			 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,080 
			 Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust 2,030 
			 Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust 1,250 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 2,225 
			 Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care NHS Trust 1,550 
			 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,300 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,435 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 1,280 
			 South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 1,825 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 1,825 
			 South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust 375 
			 South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,405 
			 South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust 2,905 
			 South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust 1,980 
			 Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,895 
			 Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,835 
			 Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 1,855 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 3,440 
			 St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 2,375 
			 Stockport NHS Foundation Trust 2,335 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 2,110 
			 Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,315 
			 Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 1,520 
		
	
	
		
			 The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,935 
			 The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 2,310 
			 The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,320 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 1,765 
			 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn. NHS Foundation Trust 1,090 
			 The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 1,655 
			 The Royal Bournemouth And Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,225 
			 The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust 1,895 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 2,730 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 80 
			 United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 2,440 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,150 
			 University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 1,865 
			 University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust 1,630 
			 University. Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 1,030 
			 University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust 1,670 
			 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 1,980 
			 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 1,265 
			 University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust 2,860 
			 Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 2,965 
			 Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,495 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 2,040 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 2,055 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 2,230 
			 Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 2,555 
			 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 1,260 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 2,245 
			 Wiltshire Primary Care Trust 2,010 
			 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 2,200 
			 Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,335 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 2,215 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust 1,775 
			 Wye Valley NHS Trust 1,560 
			 Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,030 
		
	
	
		
			 York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,865 
			 Notes: 1. Data includes: (a) Department: Elective (inc day case), non-elective, out-patient procedure, Community Midwifery Services (b) Healthcare Resource Group: NZ11A, NZ11B, NZ11C, NZ11D, NZ11E, NZ11F, NZ11G, NZ12A, NZ12B, NZ12C, NZ12D, NZ12E, NZ12F, NZ12G, NZ13Z, NZ14Z and NZ15Z. 2. The average unit costs above are for maternity deliveries and not specifically births (and may include multiple births). 3. The costs include those for Community Midwifery Services which may not have taken place within a hospital setting. 4. The costs above have not been adjusted for the Market Forces Factor (MFF) and therefore will include location-specific costs. Therefore, care should be taken when directly comparing organisations. 5. The data does not include births in private hospitals. 6. All costs are rounded to nearest £5. 7. This trust list is based at those trusts as at 31 March 2011. Source: Reference Costs Collection, 2010-11

Maternity Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the tariff paid for births goes to maternity units in each hospital.

Daniel Poulter: It is for individual trusts to determine how income is allocated to Departments within the trust.
	Information on the allocation of income is not collected by the Department.

Midwives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what proportion of midwifery students were (a) unemployed and (b) employed in a job other than as a midwife six months after graduation for each year since 2002 for which records are available;
	(2)  what proportion of midwifery graduates (a) sought and (b) secured a job as a midwife in the NHS within six months of graduation for each year since 2009 for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not collect this information. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education.
	The contact details for HESA can be viewed at:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2/52/

Midwives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the attrition rate for students on midwifery courses was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: Attrition rates are quoted using figures for completed cohorts. Attrition rates were not collected in 2007-08, or 2008-09. The figures for the last three financial years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Midwifery attrition rates 2009-10 to 2011-12 
			 Year in which cohort completed Courses started in: Midwifery attrition rate (percentage) 
			 2009-10 2005-06 17.6 
			 2010-11 2006-07 20.3 
			 2011-12 2007-08 26.6 
			 Note: 2011-12 attrition rates are based on returns from all 10 strategic health authorities (SHAs), 2010-11 data on nine SHAs and 2009-10 data on seven SHAs. Source: Multi Professional Education and Training Quarterly Monitoring Returns 
		
	
	National non-medical average attrition rates are traditionally reported using data from completed cohorts (ie the number of midwives graduating from training programmes). However, reporting attrition rates in this way does not show the successes that strategic health authorities (SHAs) have recently reported in reducing attrition in the early years of training. If these trends are maintained, it would lead to lower attrition rates for midwifery cohorts who have completed their training. SHAs have been working with education institutions to reduce attrition from training programmes by improving the quality of education and training for health professionals.

Midwives

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the provision of insurance for independent midwives; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Independent research commissioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Royal College of Midwives suggested that independent midwives would be able to obtain insurance as employees within a corporate structure. We know this model of maternity care delivery is viable because midwives operating such models have been able to purchase insurance for the whole of the midwifery care pathway and are delivering maternity services, both inside and outside the national health service.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Daniel Poulter: The Department currently sources mobile telephony and mobile data services from Vodafone under a cross Government Framework Agreement.

Neurology

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he and his predecessors have had with Ministers in Northern Ireland and Wales on public funding of research into Parkinson's Disease and other neurological conditions.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has had no such discussions. My right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), also had no such discussions as the former Secretary of State for Health.

NHS: Pay

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on which dates the National Pay Terms and Conditions Committee of the NHS Staff Council has met since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The national NHS Staff Council has overall responsibility for the “Agenda for Change” pay system and has representatives from both employers and trade unions. The Department is not a member, but normally attends as an observer. The NHS Staff Council remit includes maintaining the “Agenda for Change” pay system and negotiating any changes in core conditions for staff on “Agenda for Change” and reflecting these in the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook. NHS Employers has provided the following list of meetings that have taken place since May 2010:
	
		
			  Executive or Staff Council 
			 2010  
			 14 May Executive 
			 17 June Executive 
			 8 July Staff Council 
			 16 September Executive 
			 13 October Executive 
			 19 November Staff Council 
			 10 December Executive 
			   
			 2011  
			 18 January Executive 
			 25 February Executive 
			 10 March Staff Council 
			 13 May Executive 
			 17 June Executive 
			 8 July Staff Council 
			 9 September Executive 
			 21 October Staff Council 
			 8 December Executive 
			   
			 2012  
			 19 January Executive 
			 22 February Executive 
			 9 March Staff Council 
			 3 May Executive 
			 28 June Staff Council 
			 14 September Executive 
			 19 October Executive

NHS: Pay

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in negotiating national pay terms and conditions since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: NHS Employers is the organisation responsible for conducting negotiations with the trade unions on national pay, terms and conditions. Changes to national terms and conditions are discussed at the NHS Staff Council and at Joint Negotiating Committees with the British Medical Association. NHS Employers advise that, since May 2010, a number of amendments have been made to national terms and conditions for staff covered by “Agenda for Change”. A list has been placed in the Library. The NHS Staff Council is currently engaged in discussions on national changes to “Agenda for Change”.

Nurses

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the proportion of nurses who qualified in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 who are currently working in the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not held centrally by the Department.
	The information on first destination of newly registered nurses is held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
	The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education. HESA collects information on the first destination of graduates.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Daniel Poulter: The Department subscribes to 286 titles of magazines and journals and four newspaper titles in 2012. The list of the titles has been placed in the Library.
	The Department's Knowledge Centre is responsible for central provision of Library services—including newspapers, periodicals and trade publications. The list does not include any items purchased for retention by individual divisions, responsibility for which was decentralised in April 2010. Details on these titles are not available.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Daniel Poulter: The latest data available on the number of days staff absent due to ill health in the last 12 months are presented in the following table. This is based on disaggregation of the annual “Average Working Days Lost. (AWDL)” data collected by Cabinet Office and used as a standard measure across the civil service.
	
		
			 Average working days lost per full-time equivalent by month and grade 
			  Administrative  o fficer Executive  o fficer Higher  e xecutive  o fficer Senior  e xecutive  o fficer Grade 7 Grade 6 Senior  c ivil  s ervice 
			 July 2011 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.1 
			 August 2011 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.0 
			 September 2011 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 
			 October 2011 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 November 2012 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 
			 December 2011 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 
			 January 2012 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 February 2012 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.1 
			 March 2012 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.3 .0.3 0.2 0.1 
			 April 2012 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 
			 May 2012 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2 
			 June 2012 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.1 
		
	
	The Department has one of the lowest rates across Whitehall for the average number of working days lost per year: 4.1 days.

Smoking: Health Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 173W, on smoking: health education, what elements were comprised within the estimated £5.7 million final cost of the Stoptober campaign.

Anna Soubry: The Stoptober campaign is still live so final audited campaign figures are not yet available and all figures are projections. Further to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 173W, the latest figures suggest the campaign will cost £5.97 million.
	This is comprised of:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Media 3,600,000 
			 Creative Development and Production 947,510 
			 Support Items (packs, text programme), distribution and follow on communications 559,000 
			 Supporting Regional, Local and Partnership activity 500,000 
			 Digital Development and Social Media 261,000 
			 Public relations 100,000 
			 Total 5,967,510

Streptococcus: Pregnancy

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the advantages to public health of the introduction of routine screening of pregnant women for group B streptococcus.

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what studies have been conducted to understand the reasons for the rise in group B streptococcus infections in newborn babies;
	(2)  what research his Department has conducted to gauge the opinions of women of childbearing age of the desirability of antenatal screening for group B streptococcus carriage and their opinions on the use of antibiotics during labour to prevent transmission of group B streptococcus from mother to baby;
	(3)  what the expected effect on rates of group B streptococcus infections in newborn babies was following the introduction of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Prevention of Early-onset Neonatal group B Streptococcal Disease guideline in 2003.

Daniel Poulter: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four United Kingdom countries about all aspects of screening policy, including screening policy for group B streptococcus (GBS) carriage in pregnancy. In 2008-09 the UK NSC recommended that a national screening programme to test for GBS carriage in pregnancy using the enriched culture medium test should not be offered. The UK NSC is currently reviewing the evidence for screening for GBS carriage in pregnancy against its criteria again. A public consultation on the screening review has just closed. The Department expects to receive a recommendation from the UK NSC later this year.
	The Department is not aware of any studies to understand the reason for the rise in GBS infections in newborn babies. However, the Department is aware of two publications, one which looked at the epidemiology of neonatal infection and the other which assessed the opportunities for prevention of cases of early onset GBS. These are;
	“Vergnano S, Menson Et Kennea N, Embleton N, Russell AB, Watts T, Robinson M3, Collinson A, Heath PT, Neonatal infections in England: the NeonIN surveillance network and Vergnano S, Embleton N, Collinson A, Menson E, Russell AB, Heath P, Missed opportunities for preventing group B streptococcus infection.”
	The Health Protection Agency's laboratory surveillance scheme provides ongoing monitoring of GBS bacteraemia. Data from the scheme indicate that the rates of early onset GBS bacteraemia (in infants 0-6 days of age) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have fluctuated between 2003 and 2010 although showing a slight overall rise, from 0.37 to 0.41 per 1000 live births.
	The Department has not conducted any research to gauge the opinions of women of childbearing age of the desirability of antenatal screening for GBS carriage in pregnancy or asked for their opinions on the use of antibiotics during labour to prevent transmission of GBS from mother to baby.
	The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) published a Green-top guideline “Prevention of Early Onset Group B Streptococcal Disease” in November 2003, which provides guidance for obstetricians, midwives and neonatologists on the prevention of early-onset neonatal group B streptococcal disease. On 18 July 2012, the RCOG published a revised guideline to take into account new evidence on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease.

Vacancies

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's vacancy rate was in 2011-12; and what vacancy rate has been assumed for 2012-13.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not use or monitor a "vacancy rate" nor does it employ any dynamic measure reflecting the variation of vacancies over time. The Department is not required to report dated vacancy counts to any central data collection bodies, such as the Cabinet Office or the Office for National Statistics.
	However, vacant positions at senior civil servant level can be obtained in the form of organisation charts and the latest organisational charts for the Department (as at 1 April 2012) can be found at:
	http://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

David Lidington: Information on the average number of days to settle an invoice is not held centrally for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) overseas and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost. The FCO does however hold this information for invoices paid through its Corporate Service Centre in Milton Keynes.
	The average number of working days taken to settle an invoice by the Corporate Service Centre were as follows:
	
		
			  Working days 
			 1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010 5.2 
			 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011 3.7 
			 1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012 5.3 
		
	
	The FCO recognises the importance of paying suppliers promptly, and ensures that valid invoices are paid as soon as possible.

Business: Human Rights

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to publish the UK's Strategy on Business and Human Rights; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the rights of children are specifically addressed in that strategy.

David Lidington: The Government's draft strategy is currently going through a final round of consultation across Whitehall and we hope to publish it in the near future.
	The Government are fully committed to the promotion and implementation of children's rights and to improving the situation of children worldwide. In developing the strategy on business and human rights we have given consideration to the state duty to protect human rights, including those of children, and also to the Children's Rights and Business Principles, recently-launched by UNICEF, the Global Compact and Save the Children. We are committed to the protection of human rights and to complying with our obligations under the various international conventions to which the UK is a party.

Cayman Islands

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the monthly operating expenses, actual performance and forecast reports for the Cayman Turtle Farm for 2012 as set out in Annex C of the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility agreed with the Cayman Islands government.

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not receive the financial details of the Cayman Turtle Farm under Annex C of the Framework of Fiscal Responsibility. This is a matter for the Cayman Islands Government.
	We are aware that the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has conducted an investigation into the Turtle Farm, and that it has recently made its findings public. The British Government places great importance on conserving the biodiversity of the Overseas Territories and takes seriously reports of animal cruelty throughout the world. We therefore welcome the work that non-governmental organisations such as the WSPA undertake in support of international animal welfare issues.
	We understand the farm has carried out a review of its operations and found no basis for the WSPA’s allegations. The Farm itself has ordered that an independent assessment take place in December. We encourage the WSPA, the management of the farm and the Cayman Islands Government to continue to engage constructively.

Cayman Islands

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department holds on how many UK citizens have visited the Cayman Islands in each of the last five years.

Mark Simmonds: The Economics and Statistics Office in the Cayman Islands collates arrivals figures by country of origin. These are available online at:
	www.eso.ky/pages1.php?page=tourismstatistics

European Parliament

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the European Commission in respect of stopping the European Parliament sitting in both Brussels and Strasbourg.

David Lidington: The UK Government's position on a single seat for the European Parliament is well known from the Coalition programme for Government. The UK Government are committed to reducing cost and waste in the European Union, and we believe that a single seat for the European Parliament in Brussels would save money and make it more efficient. To achieve this reform would require a change to the EU treaties.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to tackle human trafficking.

Hugo Swire: As set out in the reply to my hon. Friend on 19 June 2012, Official Report, column 907W, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) network provides a platform for departments including the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Department for International Development (DFID) and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to implement the Government's human trafficking strategy overseas.
	The strategy includes working with foreign governments to address the conditions in which trafficking can thrive; expediting the safe and rapid return of victims to their own countries; and supporting work in source countries to prevent retrafficking. FCO Posts also work with local non-governmental organisations to raise awareness among vulnerable groups; and support the work of UKBA and law enforcement agencies to share intelligence, disrupt networks, identify victims and prosecute traffickers.
	The FCO continues to raise the profile of trafficking in the UK including a speech by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on 16 October at the opening of the parliamentarians against human trafficking London conference on 24 October the FCO and Home Office hosted a major event on tackling human trafficking for parliamentarians, diplomats, non-governmental organisations and charities at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office use Vodafone as supplier of mobile telephone and mobile data services.
	It is not possible to obtain a list of contractors and suppliers used by our overseas missions, as this is not held centrally and collating the information would incur disproportionate cost.

EDUCATION

English Baccalaureate: Disadvantaged

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals in each local authority passed the English Baccalaureate in the latest year for which figures are available.

David Laws: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Free School Meals: Rural Areas

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to increase the take-up of free school meals in rural areas.

David Laws: The Government is committed to increasing the take-up of free school meals for all pupils who are entitled to them. We want disadvantaged children from both rural and urban areas to benefit from a nutritious meal, and for their schools to receive extra funding through the Pupil Premium in order to help them to raise the attainment of these pupils. We have taken a number of steps to achieve this aim.
	Our funding for the School Food Trust enables it to carry out work to improve the take-up of healthy school lunches, and specifically to increase take-up of free school meals. The School Food Trust has produced the 'Free School Meals Matter Toolkit' which provides schools with information and advice to help them to encourage all eligible pupils to register for, and take, their free school meal.
	We have streamlined the application process by developing an online Eligibility Checking Service (ECS), which allows local authorities to establish a family's free school meal eligibility quickly, by checking data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Home Office. We are encouraging local authorities to increase their use of this resource, which, as well as reducing bureaucracy and cost at a local level, encourages more parents to sign up their children for a free school lunch. For those authorities that choose to use it, the ECS allows parents to check their own eligibility and apply for free school meals online.
	In November 2011, we further encouraged take-up by sending registration messages to parents, schools and local authorities. The school census figures published on 21 June 2012 show that registration for free school meals increased by 0.1% in both primary and secondary schools nationally.

GCSE

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many 16 and 17 year olds have no A* to C grades at GCSE, by local authority.

David Laws: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The information requested is shown in the following table. The estimates are based on those who were in maintained schools at age 15 and had not attained any GCSEs at grades A*-C by the end of the 2010/11 academic year. The allocation to local authority (LA) is based on home address at age 15, or the LA of the school where home address is not available.
	
		
			 Number of 16 and 17 year olds at the start of 2011/12 who had not achieved any A*-C grades by the end of 2010/11, by local authority at age 15, for pupils who had been in maintained schools at 15 
			 LA  n umber LA n ame Age 16 Age 17 Total 
			 201 City of London x x x 
			 202 Camden 210 220 430 
			 203 Greenwich 480 430 910 
			 204 Hackney 350 300 640 
		
	
	
		
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 180 140 330 
			 206 Islington 210 230 440 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 80 70 160 
			 208 Lambeth 310 360 670 
			 209 Lewisham 510 530 1,040 
			 210 Southwark 390 400 780 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 350 310 650 
			 212 Wandsworth 270 260 540 
			 213 City of Westminster 160 130 290 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 380 400 770 
			 302 Barnet 420 370 800 
			 303 Bexley 430 380 810 
			 304 Brent 500 440 940 
			 305 Bromley 380 320 710 
			 306 Croydon 660 630 1,290 
			 307 Ealing 470 420 890 
			 308 Enfield 520 580 1,100 
			 309 Haringey 410 500 910 
			 310 Harrow 320 280 590 
			 311 Havering 350 370 710 
			 312 Hillingdon 500 490 980 
			 313 Hounslow 340 380 720 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 160 140 300 
			 315 Merton 260 280 550 
			 316 Newham 510 550 1,050 
			 317 Redbridge 370 280 650 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 120 120 230 
			 319 Sutton 290 290 580 
			 320 Waltham Forest 390 400 790 
			 330 Birmingham 2,510 2,570 5,070 
			 331 Coventry 740 770 1,520 
			 332 Dudley 620 630 1,260 
			 333 Sandwell 910 950 1,860 
			 334 Solihull 300 320 620 
			 335 Walsall 720 790 1,510 
			 336 Wolverhampton 580 710 1,280 
			 340 Knowsley 550 590 1,140 
			 341 Liverpool 1,190 1,120 2,300 
			 342 St Helens 410 390 800 
			 343 Sefton 420 480 900 
			 344 Wirral 510 540 1,050 
			 350 Bolton 640 670 1,310 
			 351 Bury 250 220 470 
			 352 Manchester 1,250 1,330 2,570 
			 353 Oldham 520 540 1,060 
			 354 Rochdale 510 510 1,010 
			 355 Salford 520 480 1,000 
			 356 Stockport 420 400 820 
			 357 Tameside 590 590 1,180 
			 358 Trafford 330 290 620 
			 359 Wigan 570 590 1,160 
			 370 Barnsley 790 710 1,500 
			 371 Doncaster 830 820 1,650 
			 372 Rotherham 700 700 1,400 
		
	
	
		
			 373 Sheffield 1,430 1,350 2,770 
			 380 Bradford 1,570 1,610 3,170 
			 381 Calderdale 430 420 850 
			 382 Kirklees 880 880 1,760 
			 383 Leeds 1,860 1,900 3,750 
			 384 Wakefield 750 810 1,560 
			 390 Gateshead 410 390 800 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 690 660 1,350 
			 392 North Tyneside 380 340 710 
			 393 South Tyneside 320 310 640 
			 394 Sunderland 710 760 1,470 
			 420 Isles of Scilly x x x 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 240 250 490 
			 801 City of Bristol 850 830 1,680 
			 802 North Somerset 320 260 570 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 530 480 1,010 
			 805 Hartlepool 290 260 550 
			 806 Middlesbrough 480 440 920 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 370 360 730 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 430 470 900 
			 810 City of Kingston upon Hull 860 920 1,780 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 620 570 1,190 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 470 490 960 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 470 430 900 
			 815 North Yorkshire 880 840 1,730 
			 816 York 280 260 540 
			 821 Luton 420 370 800 
			 822 Bedford 320 330 650 
			 823 Central Bedfordshire 470 520 1,000 
			 825 Buckinghamshire 680 700 1,380 
			 826 Milton Keynes 530 560 1,090 
			 830 Derbyshire 1,530 1,550 3,080 
			 831 City of Derby 580 590 1,170 
			 835 Dorset 530 510 1,040 
			 836 Poole 270 280 550 
			 837 Bournemouth 280 270 550 
			 840 Durham 1,070 1,100 2,170 
			 841 Darlington 190 190 380 
			 845 East Sussex 950 990 1,940 
			 846 Brighton and Hove 490 460 950 
			 850 Hampshire 2,140 1,980 4,120 
			 851 Portsmouth 500 480 980 
			 852 Southampton 450 470 920 
			 855 Leicestershire 1,130 1,130 2,260 
			 856 Leicester City 790 930 1,730 
			 857 Rutland 40 30 70 
			 860 Staffordshire 1,560 1,620 3,180 
			 861 Stoke on Trent 750 750 1,500 
			 865 Wiltshire 880 840 1,720 
			 866 Swindon 400 420 820 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 180 160 330 
		
	
	
		
			 868 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 160 160 320 
			 869 West Berkshire 210 220 430 
			 870 Reading 310 300 610 
			 871 Slough 270 260 530 
			 872 Wokingham 200 160 350 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 1,080 930 2,010 
			 874 City of Peterborough 580 510 1,080 
			 876 Halton 270 270 540 
			 877 Warrington 330 320 650 
			 878 Devon 1,230 1,170 2,400 
			 879 City of Plymouth 590 600 1,190 
			 880 Torbay 320 320 640 
			 881 Essex 2,660 2,650 5,310 
			 882 Southend 360 360 720 
			 883 Thurrock 380 350 720 
			 884 Herefordshire 340 330 670 
			 885 Worcestershire 1,100 1,090 2,190 
			 886 Kent 3,230 3,260 6,500 
			 887 Medway 740 680 1,420 
			 888 Lancashire 2,120 2,170 4,290 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 390 350 740 
			 890 Blackpool 380 340 720 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 1,710 1,840 3,550 
			 892 City of Nottingham 900 930 1,820 
			 893 Shropshire 500 490 990 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 430 370 800 
			 895 Cheshire East 520 480 1,000 
			 896 Cheshire and Chester West 580 540 1,110 
			 908 Cornwall 910 920 1,830 
			 909 Cumbria 1,070 1,060 2,130 
			 916 Gloucestershire 930 930 1,860 
			 919 Hertfordshire 1,710 1,660 3,370 
			 921 Isle of Wight 350 340 700 
			 925 Lincolnshire 1,440 1,430 2,870 
			 926 Norfolk 1,760 1,660 3,420 
			 928 Northamptonshire 1,490 1,460 2,950 
			 929 Northumberland 740 690 1,430 
			 931 Oxfordshire 1,080 1,060 2,140 
			 933 Somerset 970 1,010 1,970 
			 935 Suffolk 1,350 1,280 2,630 
			 936 Surrey 1,430 1,300 2,720 
			 937 Warwickshire 840 930 1,770 
			 938 West Sussex 1,250 1,230 2,480 
			      
			  England 101,770 100,860 202,630 
			 Source: DFE Matched Administrative Data

General Studies: GCE A-level

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils (a) eligible for and (b) not eligible for free school meals studied general studies A level in the last year for which figures are available.

David Laws: The information requested by free school meal eligibility is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Number and percentage of students attempting GCE A-level general studies (1)  by free school meal (FSM) eligibility (2) , year: 2010/11 (final), coverage: England, maintained schools (including academies and CTCs) (3) 
			  Number of eligible students aged 16-18 Number of students attempting GCE A-level general studies (1) Percentage of students attempting GCE A-level general studies (1) 
			 Students eligible for FSM 25,806 1,152 4.5 
			     
			 All other students 310,356 37,098 12.0 
			     
			 All students 336,162 38,250 11.4 
			 (1) Students attempting a GCE A-level in general studies (includes also pupils attempting a GCE A-level in critical thinking) at the end of the 2010/11 academic year. (2) Students eligible for free school meals at the end of year 11. (3) Maintained schools and FE sector colleges only. Students taking A levels in independent schools are not included.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  with reference to the findings of the Ofsted report on the pupil premium published in September 2012, what plans his Department has to help schools ensure that pupil premium money is used more efficiently;
	(2)  how his Department will ensure that the pupil premium is being spent on the targeted pupils.

David Laws: The pupil premium is a significant investment, amounting to £1.875 billion since its introduction in April 2011, and we are determined to ensure that schools' use of the premium leads to real improvements for disadvantaged pupils. Ofsted have now been tasked with an increased focus on the performance of pupils who attract the premium, and on how it is used to remove barriers to learning for premium pupils.
	Ofsted have recently reported concerns that some schools' approaches may not be effective. We have two evaluations under way, both through the continuing study we have commissioned from Ofsted, and our own external evaluation of the premium's first year. The findings of both reviews will be available next spring, and these will further support our drive to promote best practice.
	Although the pupil premium is not ring-fenced, and is not subject to bureaucratic prescription or monitoring, schools are individually accountable for this funding. In addition, from this September, each school must now account every year to parents, the local community, and other stakeholders, by publishing online: the amount of the school's pupil premium grant for the current academic year; details of how it is planned to spend the premium; how the previous academic year's grant was spent; and the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of the school's premium pupils.
	The Department publishes information about disadvantaged pupils' attainment in the schools performance tables, which will enable parents and the wider community to see the extent to which individual schools are playing their part in narrowing attainment gaps.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the pupil premium on the educational attainment of eligible children in Coventry.

David Laws: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The Government is very interested in schools' use of the significant funding that it has made available through the pupil premium. This is why the Department commissioned Ofsted to study how effectively schools are using their premium funding to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Ofsted published its interim findings on 20 September 2012, and will publish the results of the full study in spring 2013. We have also commissioned an external evaluation of the premium's first year.
	We expect schools to be accountable to parents and to their communities, and have taken steps to improve the local information available about the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. First, their educational attainment in each school is now published through the performance tables. In addition, schools receiving the pupil premium are required to publish an annual statement online which includes: the amount of the school's pupil premium for the current academic year; their plans for spending the premium; details of how the previous academic year's grant was spent; and the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of the school's premium pupils.

Schools: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the minimum funding guarantee on school place provision in (a) Cumbria and (b) Barrow and Furness constituency for the remainder of the spending review period.

David Laws: As we seek to reform the funding system so that it is fairer and more transparent, the minimum funding guarantee will protect schools from experiencing any unmanageable changes to their budgets. We will review the arrangements for 2013-14 to assess the impact of the recent school funding reforms on schools. In addition to revenue funding, the Department also makes available basic need capital funding to support local authorities in providing additional pupil places. For the first two years of the current spending review period, Cumbria has been allocated £7.1 million in basic need funding.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of five to 16 year-olds (a) in each age group and (b) of each gender took part in at least (i) two hours and (ii) three hours of high quality physical education and sport each week in each year since 2003-04.

Edward Timpson: The annual PE and sport survey collected date about young people's participation in physical education and school sport from 2003/04 to 2009/10.
	For academic years 2003/04 to 2007/08 schools were asked for numbers of pupils in each year group who participated in at least two hours of high quality PE and out of hours sport in a typical week. From 2008/09 the survey collected data relating to children who participated in at least three hours per week.
	The results for years 2004/05 to 2007/08 for pupils participating for at least two hours, and for 2008/09 and 2009/10 for pupils participating for at least three hours are shown in the following tables. We do not have data differentiating between boys and girls.
	
		
			 (i) Proportion of pupils participating in at least two hours of high quality PE or out of hours sport, 2004/05 to 2007/08 
			 Percentage 
			  2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 
			 Year l 51.0 74.0 87.0 95.0 
			 Year 2 54.0 77.0 89.0 96.0 
			 Year 3 64.0 83.0 91.0 97.0 
			 Year 4 68.0 84.0 92.0 97.0 
			 Year 5 72.0 87.0 93.0 97.0 
			 Year 6 74.0 88.0 94.0 97.0 
			 Year 7 87.0 90.0 92.0 95.0 
			 Year 8 86.0 89.0 91.0 93.0 
			 Year 9 81.0 84.0 86.0 89.0 
			 Year 10 63.0 65.0 67.0 71.0 
			 Year 11 58.0 60.0 63.0 66.0 
		
	
	
		
			 (ii) Proportion of pupils participating in at least three hours of high quality PE or out of hours sport, 2008/09 to 2009/10 
			 Percentage 
			  2008/09 2009/10 
			 Year l 47.0 57.0 
			 Year 2 52.0 61.0 
			 Year 3 55.0 63.0 
			 Year 4 59.0 66.0 
			 Year5 63.0 69.0 
			 Year 6 65.0 70.0 
			 Year 7 53.0 59.0 
			 Year 8 50.0 54.0 
			 Year 9 44.0 49.0 
			 Year 10 42.0 45.0 
			 Year 11 37.0 40.0

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many further education colleges have been identified as eligible to receive funding for a College Sport Maker; and how much has been awarded in grants for College Sport Makers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: In 2010, the last year for which data are available, 370 further education colleges had FE sport co-ordinators. The total spent on FE sport co-ordinators in that year was £6 million.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department has collected on the number of schools which have chosen to fund school sport partnerships directly in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not collect details of schools which have chosen to fund school sport partnerships directly. Sport England continues to work with the network of School Games Organisers, funded by the Department of Health, to ensure successful rollout of the School Games across schools.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department has collected on increasing community access to sports facilities on school premises in the last three years.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not routinely collect data relating to community access to school sports facilities. However, Sport England has developed a template for a Community Use Agreement which provides a clear basis for drawing up agreements for individual schools, colleges and academies to regulate community access to school sports facilities.

Schools: Sports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of five to 16 year-olds (a) in each age group and (b) of each gender had participated in (i) intra-school competitive sport and (ii) inter-school competition in each year since 2009-10; and what proportion of such pupils had done so on a regular basis.

Edward Timpson: The 2009/10 PE and sport survey showed that the proportions of pupils aged 5-16 who participated in any intra-school competitive activities in 2009/10, broken down by age group and gender were as follows.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Total Girls Boys 
			 Year 1 70.0 70.0 70.0 
			 Year 2 74.0 74.0 75.0 
			 Year 3 82.0 81.0 82.0 
			 Year 4 84.0 83.0 85.0 
			 Year 5 86.0 86.0 87.0 
			 Year 6 88.0 87.0 88.0 
			 Year 7 86.0 86.0 87.0 
			 Year 8 84.0 83.0 85.0 
			 Year 9 81.0 80.0 83.0 
			 Year 10 69.0 67.0 72.0 
			 Year 11 57.0 53.0 60.0 
		
	
	The corresponding proportions of pupils aged 7-16 who participated in any inter-school competition in 2009/10, broken down by age group and gender are shown as follows.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Total Girls Boys 
			 Year 3 47.0 46.0 48.0 
			 Year 4 51.0 50.0 52.0 
			 Year 5 57.0 56.0 59.0 
			 Year 6 60.0 58.0 62.0 
			 Year 7 38.0 35.0 40.0 
			 Year 8 36.0 33.0 39.0 
			 Year 9 34.0 31.0 37.0 
			 Year 10 27.0 24.0 31.0 
			 Year 11 23.0 19.0 26.0

Teachers

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that school governors have access to information on the performance and capabilities of teachers in their schools.

David Laws: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The day to day management of teachers in schools is the responsibility of the head teacher. There is no requirement placed upon schools to ensure that governors should have regular access to information on the performance and capability of the teachers, other than in circumstances where there are issues that could lead to disciplinary procedures.
	We trust the professionalism and skills of our head teachers and senior leaders to manage their teacher workforce and to ensure that issues relating to performance and capability are dealt with effectively and appropriately.

JUSTICE

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what penalties are imposed on the providers of bail accommodation where the individual bailed (a) failed to comply with the conditions of their bail and (b) re-offends whilst on bail;
	(2)  what measures are in place to ensure that people responsible for bail accommodation report breaches of bail conditions to the police at the earliest opportunity; and what sanctions exist for a failure so to do.

Jeremy Wright: Accommodation for some defendants on bail is provided by the Bail Accommodation and Support Service (BASS); others are accommodated in Approved Premises.
	Accommodation providers are expected to report any breach of bail conditions, or alleged further offence they become aware of, at the earliest opportunity. However, defendants who have been granted bail are themselves responsible for complying with the conditions attached to that grant and are answerable to the court if they fail to do so. Penalties are not imposed on accommodation providers.

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were granted court bail without a condition to reside at a specific address in the latest year for which figures are available.

Helen Grant: The data on the number of defendants granted court bail without a condition to reside at a specific address is not available centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost as it would require manual counting.

Convictions

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of offences under the Hunting Act 2004 in 2011; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of offences under the Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996 in 2011; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of offences under the Deer Act 1991 in 2011; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of offences under the Badgers Act 1991 in 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts of all offences under the Hunting Act 2004, the Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996, the Deer Act 1991 and the Badger Act 1991, in England and Wales in 2011, can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of all offences under the Hunting Act 2004, the Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996, the Deer Act 1991 and the Badger Act 1991, in England and Wales, 2011 (1, 2) 
			 Statute/section Proceeded against Found guilty 
			 Hunting Act 2004 72 56 
			 Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 3 1 
			 Deer Act 1991 10 4 
			 Badgers Act 1973 as amended by Criminal Justice Act 1991 S.26 and Badgers Act 1991 S.1 47 24 
			 Badgers (Further Protection) Act 1991 S.1 11 10 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Drugs: Sentencing

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on the length of sentences given to convicted Class A drug dealers; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: We have received no recent representations on the length of sentences given to convicted Class A drug dealers.
	Class A drug dealing offences all carry a maximum penalty of a life sentence. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years' imprisonment for a third Class A drug trafficking offence. Within these limits, sentencing is entirely a matter for the courts taking account of all the circumstances of each case. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences earlier this year, following full public consultation. The courts have a duty to follow the guideline when sentencing drug offenders but may depart from it in a particular case if it would be in the interests of justice to do so.

Human Trafficking

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in September 2012; in which region each of the suspected victims was found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme.

Helen Grant: In September 2012 there were 50 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by The Salvation Army. Details are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Nationality Gender Region Referring agency 
			 Albanian Female South East Prison service 
			 Albanian Female Yorkshire Police 
			 Albanian Female South East Legal representative 
			 Albanian Female South East NHS 
			 Albanian Female South East Legal representative 
			 Czech Male South East Police 
			 Czech Male South East Police 
			 Czech Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Eritrean Female West Midlands UKBA 
			 Ethiopian Female South East Police 
			 Gambian Female Yorkshire Legal representative 
			 Ghanaian Male North East Self-referral 
			 Ghanaian Female South East NGO 
			 Ghanaian Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Hungarian Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Indian Female West Midlands Legal representative 
			 Lithuanian Male East Midlands Police 
			 Namibian Female South East NGO 
			 Namibian Female South East Self-referral 
			 Nigerian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East Self-referral 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female South East SOCA 
			 Nigerian Female South East SOCA 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Male Not known Legal representative 
			 Nigerian Female South East Self-referral 
			 Not known Female Not known Legal representative 
			 Not known Female West Midlands UKBA 
			 Philippine Male South Self-referral 
			 Polish Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Romanian Female West Midlands NGO 
			 Romanian Male North West Police 
			 Romanian Female South East Police 
			 Rwandan Female South NGO 
		
	
	
		
			 Sierra Leone Female South East Police 
			 Slovakian Male South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Female South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Female Yorkshire Police 
			 Slovakian Male South Police 
			 Slovakian Male Yorkshire NGO 
			 Slovakian Female Yorkshire Police 
			 Somalian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Thai Female South East NGO 
			 Ugandan Female South East NGO 
			 Vietnamese Female South East NGO

Marriage: Ceremonies

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 683W, on marriage ceremonies, if he will bring forward proposals to allow marriage ceremonies to be conducted out-of-doors.

Helen Grant: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 50W. The Government currently has no plans to amend the law in relation to outdoor wedding ceremonies.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Jeremy Wright: The following companies supply the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) with:
	(a) Mobile telephones
	1. National Offender Management Service—HP provides services using EE (Orange), Vodafone, and O2 for mobile telephones.
	2. Probation Services—Steria provide services through Vodafone.
	3. Outside of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Vodafone and EE (Orange) provide both mobile telephony and mobile data for MOJ's Disc Infrastructure Renewal Programme. This includes some arm’s length bodies (ALBs).
	(b) Mobile data services
	1. The suppliers listed above also provide mobile data via the network suppliers.
	2. MOJ is supplied with SMS services by Text Anywhere and CWW.
	3. Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service have a Contract with O2 for Lone Worker Alarms.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice's Library and Information Service purchases publications for the judiciary, courts, tribunals, and for the Ministry of Justice and Royal Courts of Justice libraries. The Press Office also buys publications. (There is no central record of any subscriptions held by other business units.) The Library and Information Service, and Press Office subscribe to the following:
	Adviser Magazine
	Aggression and Violent Behaviour
	Barrister
	British Journal of Criminology
	British Tax Review
	Cambridge Law Journal
	Charity Law and Practice Review
	Child and Family Law Quarterly
	Cilex Journal
	Civil Justice Quarterly
	Computers and Law
	Conflict Resolution Quarterly
	Construction Law Journal
	Conveyancer and Property Lawyer
	Counsel
	Crime and Delinquency
	Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health
	Criminal Justice and Behaviour
	Criminal Justice Matters
	Criminal Justice Policy Review
	Criminal Law and Justice Weekly
	Criminal Law Review
	Criminal Law Week
	Criminology
	Criminology and Criminal Justice
	Daily Express, The
	Daily Mail, The
	Daily Mirror, The
	Daily Star, The
	Daily Telegraph, The
	Digest, The
	Economist, The
	Entertainment Law Review
	Equal Opportunities Review
	Estates Gazette
	European Current Law
	European Human Rights Law Review
	European Intellectual Property Review
	Family Law
	Financial Times, The
	Freedom of Information
	Guardian, The
	Harvard Business Review
	House Magazine
	Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
	IDS Employment Law Brief
	Independent, The
	Industrial Law Journal
	Intellectual Property Quarterly
	International Comparative Law Quarterly
	International Family Law
	International Journal of Children's Rights
	International Journal of Constitutional Law
	International Journal of Evidence and Proof
	International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
	International review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
	Internet Newsletter for Lawyers
	Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
	Journal of Criminal Law
	Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties
	Journal of Environmental Law
	Journal of International Family Law
	Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice
	Journal of Interpersonal Violence Journal of Law and Society
	Journal of Offender Rehabilitation
	Journal of Personal Injury Law
	Journal of Planning and Environment Law
	Journal of Private International Law
	Journal of Sexual Aggression
	Journal of Social Security Law
	Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law
	Judicial Review
	Justice
	Justice Quarterly
	Kemp and Kemp on Damages
	Law Quarterly Review
	Law Society Gazette
	Lawyer, The
	Legal Action
	Legal and Criminological Psychology Legal Business
	Litigation Funding
	Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial law Quarterly
	Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter
	Magistrate
	The Media Lawyer
	Medical Law Review
	Minority Rights
	Modern Law Review
	New Law Journal
	New Statesman
	The Official Journal of the European Patent Office
	Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
	Parliamentary Affairs
	Prison Journal
	Prison Service Journal
	Privacy and Data Protection
	Privacy Laws and Business: international report
	Privacy Laws and Business : UK report
	Private Eye
	Probation Journal
	Property Law Journal
	Psychology, Crime and Law
	Public Law and Management
	Public Policy Research Journal
	Public Servant
	Punishment and Society
	Sexual Abuse
	Solicitor's Journal
	Spectator, The
	Statute Law Review
	Sun, The
	Tax Journal
	Taxation Magazine
	Terrorism and Political Violence
	Therapeutic Communities
	Times, The
	Tottel's Journal of Immigration Asylum and Nationality Law
	Trauma
	Violence and Abuse
	Vacher's Quarterly
	Welfare Rights Bulletin
	Women and Criminal Justice
	Youth Justice Youth
	Violence and Juvenile Justice

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice's Library and Information Service purchases publications for the Judiciary, Courts, Tribunals, and for the Ministry of Justice and Royal Courts of Justice libraries. Press Office also buys publications. The same account codes are used for the purchase of books as well as newspapers, periodicals and trade publications and there is no central record of any subscriptions held by other business units. An accurate answer to this question cannot therefore be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people who received a custodial sentence of less than (a) five years, (b) four years, (c) three years, (d) two years, (e) one year, (f) six months and (g) four months in the latest period for which figures are available were convicted of (i) burglary, (ii) sexual assault, (iii) grievous bodily harm, (iv) rape, (v) manslaughter, (vi) attempted murder, (vii) forgery, (viii) fraud, (ix) theft of a motor vehicle, (x) theft from a person, (xi) robbery, (xii) sexual activity with a child under 16 years, (xiii) sexual activity with a child under 13 years, (xiv) sexual assault of a female, (xv) rape of a male, (xvi) rape of a female, (xvii) sexual assault on a male, (xviii) child abduction, (xix) abandoning children aged under two years, (xx) cruelty or neglect of children, (xxi) wounding or other acts endangering life, (xxii) causing death by aggravated vehicle-taking, (xxiii) causing death by driving while unlicensed or uninsured, (xxiv) causing death of a child or vulnerable person, (xxv) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, (xxvi) manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, (xxvii) causing death by reckless driving, (xxviii) threat or conspiracy to murder, (xxix) perverting the course of justice, (xxx) violent disorder, (xxxi) kidnapping, (xxxii) blackmail, (xxxiii) intent to supply a controlled drug, (xxxiv) possession of a controlled drug, (xxxv) criminal damage, (xxxvi) arson, (xxxvii) common assault, (xxxviii) dangerous driving and (xxxix) a firearms offence.

Jeremy Wright: The available information required to answer this question is currently being collated. I will write to the right hon. Member as soon as it is available. A copy will be placed in the House Library.

Prisoners’ Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been released from prison having served fewer than 10 years of a life sentence for murder in each of the last 10 years; and what the 25 shortest periods served in prison for murder were during that period.

Jeremy Wright: Sentencing is a matter for the courts. The only sentence available for the offence of murder is a life sentence.
	The sentencing judge with regard to the legislation and guidelines in place at the time and taking into account any aggravating and mitigating factors of the case will set a minimum term to be served. This punitive period is known commonly as the “tariff” period.
	No life sentence prisoner will be released before they have served the tariff period in full. Release on expiry of the tariff period is not automatic. Release will only take place once this period has been served and the Parole Board is satisfied that the risk of harm the prisoner poses to the public is acceptable. As such, some life sentence prisoners remain in prison beyond their tariff as they are not considered to present an acceptable risk to the public.
	Data on the shortest sentence served by a convicted murderer before release in the last 10 years are not in a readily accessible electronic format. In order to answer the question precisely, it would be necessary to retrieve and search manual files for this information. This would exceed cost limits. Data from 2010 are available in a suitable format.
	In 2010, 115 people were released from prison having served a life sentence for murder. Of these, six had served fewer than 10 years. In 2011, 160 people were released from prison having served a life sentence for murder. Of these, 26 had served fewer than 10 years.
	These data and those in the following table do not include any time served on remand. The average time served for murderers released in 2010 and 2011 was 16 years.
	The shortest periods served in prison for murder for those released in 2010 and 2011 are in the following table.
	
		
			 Time served (years) Number of prisoners released 
			 3.6 1 
			 7.4 1 
			 7.8 1 
			 7.9 2 
			 8.1 1 
			 8.4 1 
			 8.5 2 
			 8.8 1 
			 8.9 2 
			 9 1 
			 9.1 1 
			 9.2 4 
			 9.3 1 
			 9.4 1 
			 9.5 6 
		
	
	Six prisoners were released having served 9.5 years making the total number of short tariffs in the table 26 rather than the requested 25.
	The instance where an offender served 3.6 years is particular to the special circumstances of that case. Although the offender pleaded guilty and was convicted of murder, it might be described as an assisted suicide and was dealt with apparently sympathetically by the sentencing judge.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what amount the Government received from the sale of HMP Brockhill;
	(2)  whether his Department will retain the receipts from the sale of HMP Latchmere House and HMP Brockhill.

Jeremy Wright: The site of the former Brockhill prison has not yet been sold. Work is under way to prepare the site for sale on the open market.
	The receipts from the sale of the Brockhill and Latchmere House former prison sites will be retained by the Ministry of Justice.

Probation: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what system is in place for the regulation of Essex Probation Trust; under what legislation that regulation is carried out; what changes have been made to the system of regulation since 2010; what changes he plans to make; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Probation trusts are subject to the provisions of Part 1 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Offender Management Act 2007. Under section 5(2) of the Act, the purposes of a probation trust must consist of or include the making or performance by the trust of contracts with the Secretary of State for the making of "probation provision" (as defined in section 2(1) of the Act). Trusts' detailed responsibilities are set out in their contracts with the Secretary of State: these contracts are managed by the National Offender Management Service.
	Since 2010, the Government has revised the National Standards for the Management of Offenders, under section 7 of the Act, and has reduced the number of centrally-set targets that probation trusts are required to work to.
	The consultation paper “Punishment and Reform: Effective Probation Services”, published on 27 March, set out our proposals for the future provision of probation services. We are reviewing our proposals in the light of the consultation responses we have received.

Regis Group and Thorpe Bay Estates

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on (a) Regis Group and (b) Thorpe Bay Estates.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice has not received any representations on either the Regis Group or Thorpe Bay Estates.

Reoffenders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people completing (a) an Offender Substance Abuse Programme, (b) an Addressing Substance Related Offending Programme and (c) a Women's Programme (Acquisitive Crime) were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (i) one year and (ii) two years of completing the programme in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people completing a Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage It (CALM) Programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (a) one year and (b) two years of completing the programme in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many people completing a (a) Thinking Skills Programme, (b) Drink Impaired Driving Programme, (c) Low Intensity Alcohol Programme and (d) Community Drink Violence Programme were subsequently convicted of a further offence within (i) one year and (ii) two years of completing the programme in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available in a readily accessible electronic format and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A complex data-matching exercise would need to be undertaken to combine the data held on reoffending and offending behaviour programmes.

Staff

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what occasions former Ministry of Justice (and its associated agencies) officials on grades (a) SCS1 and below, (b) SCS2 and (c) SCS3 have sought employment elsewhere and have (i) applied to, (ii) been approved or (iii) been refused by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Code of Conduct on business appointments for civil servants since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: Officials who were leaving the Ministry of Justice and its associated agencies have, where necessary, submitted applications under the Business Appointment Rules for civil servants as set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
	The figures for the period April 2011 to March 2012 are as follows:
	(a) There were 11 applications from civil servants at grades SCSI and below. All 11 applications were approved and conditions were imposed in three of these cases. These applications were approved within the Department.
	(b) There were 12 applications from civil servants at grade SCS2. All 12 applications were approved and conditions were imposed in six of these cases. These applications were approved within the Department.
	(c) There were four applications from civil servants at grade SCS3. All four applications were approved and conditions were imposed in two of these cases. These applications were referred to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.
	Information on applications before April 2011 is not available and the information on applications made since April 2012 has not yet been collected centrally.

Staff

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what rules he has put in place to govern the movement of senior officials of his Department and the public bodies for which it is responsible into private sector employment in justice-related areas.

Jeremy Wright: The rules governing the movement of senior officials of the Ministry of Justice and its agencies into private sector employment in justice-related areas, are set out in the Business Appointment Rules for Civil Servants.
	The Rules form part of the Civil Service Management Code (section 4.3 Annex A) and are available on the Cabinet Office internet site at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/civil-service-management-code
	The Business Appointment rules apply to all Crown Servants. So the Ministry's arm’s length bodies whose employees are Crown Servants will follow the Business Appointment rules.
	Arm’s length bodies whose employees are not Crown Servants have separate policies and processes on business appointments.
	The 35 probation trusts employ their own staff. Under paragraphs 6 and 7 of Schedule 1 to the Offender Management Act 2007, the terms of employment of trust employees are for the trust to determine.

Victim Support Schemes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding his Department allocated to supporting victims in each of the last 10 years.

Helen Grant: The following table shows the funding provided by the Ministry of Justice to organisations providing support to victims of crime since the Department was formed in 2007:
	
		
			  Funding amount (£) 
			 2007-08 (1)38,978,496 
			 2008-09 (1)40,968,289 
			 2009-10 (1)42,645,763 
			 2010-11 (2)48,527,855 
			 2011-12 (2)48,600,338 
			 (1) Includes contributions from other Government Departments. (2) Includes £383,724 raised under the Prisoners’ Earnings Act paid to the charity Victim Support during financial year 2011-12.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports of technical difficulties he has received with regard to Foxhound vehicles in Afghanistan since May 2010.

Andrew Murrison: holding answer 29 October 2012
	Foxhound began fielding on operations in May 2012. Since then, a small number of technical issues with vehicles in Afghanistan have been reported, of which the majority have been corrected.
	There are currently two technical issues outstanding for which permanent fixes are being identified, neither of which prevent the operational deployment of Foxhound. One issue is the presence of minor leaks from the hydraulic systems on a number of vehicles, for which an interim fix is already in place. I am withholding details of the second technical issue as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
	Foxhound represents a new capability using a number of innovative systems which have been introduced to service in a rapid timeframe. Teething problems with new vehicles are not uncommon and rectification processes are well-established.

Armed Forces: Business Interests

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments raised concerns with Ministers of his Department regarding commercial employment contracts agreed by former military personnel.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 22 October 2012
	I am not aware of any such concerns being raised.

Armed Forces: Casualties

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq were recruited under 18 years old.

Mark Francois: Our policy remains that no service personnel under the age of 18 are deployed on operations which would result in them becoming engaged in, or exposed to hostilities. Of those soldiers who have sadly lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, our records show that 166 were under 18 years old at the point when they joined the Army. This figure represents 38% of the total number who have lost their lives in the period up to 23 October 2012.

Astute Class Submarines

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the potential for using Astute class submarines as the vehicle for the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Philip Dunne: The 2006 White Paper, The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrence (Cmd 6994), concluded that continuous at sea deterrence delivered by submarines carrying ballistic missiles remained the most credible and cost-effective method of nuclear deterrence. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister, on 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 316, to my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis).
	The Trident Alternatives Review is considering whether alternative systems could provide a credible nuclear deterrent. As part of its terms of reference, which were laid in the Library of the House, the study has been asked to consider modified Astute-class submarines armed with cruise missiles.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his October 2012 defence co-operation agreement with Bahrain covers; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The Defence Co-operation Accord signed between the UK and Bahrain on 11 October 2012 provides a framework for current and aspirational defence engagement activity including training and capacity building in order to enhance stability of the wider region, supporting Bahrain's ability to counter any external aggression. We have had a long standing presence in Bahrain with continuous Royal Navy patrols in the Gulf since the 1980s protecting Britain's interests.

Bahrain

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the nature and extent is of the Defence Co-operation Agreement recently signed between the UK and Bahrain; and if he will place in the Library a copy of that agreement.

Andrew Murrison: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The Defence Co-Operation Accord signed between the UK and Bahrain on 11 October 2012 provides a framework for current and future defence engagement activity, including training and capacity building, in order to enhance the stability of the wider region. The Accord complements existing agreements.
	We have had a long-standing presence in Bahrain with continuous Royal Navy patrols in the Gulf since the 1980s protecting Britain's interests. It is not normal practice to publish such agreements, or to place copies in the Library of the House.

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence's invoices, with the exception of some payments to suppliers made by units locally, are paid through the Defence Business Services (DBS) organisation. In the period between 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, DBS paid 99.72% of all correctly submitted invoices within 11 calendar days. This contributed to the MOD's overall performance of 99.99% over the 30 calendar day cycle ensuring a high level of compliance with its statutory obligation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
	The monthly MOD Prompt Payment statistics can be found at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/FinanceandProcurement/FMSSC/MinistryOfDefencePaymentPerformance.htm

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

Philip Dunne: Information regarding the average cost to pay an invoice and the number of individual invoices paid electronically or by cheque is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information is available for the proportion of total payments made by value between electronic and cheque. For the first six months of the current financial year 2012-2013 this was 99.48 % and 0.52 % respectively.

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held by his Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) expects all its suppliers for cleaning products and services to comply with applicable legislation on animal testing. The MOD requires that the Government Buying Standard is used in the specification of the contract for cleaning products and services.

Consultants

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on consultants in each financial year since 2008.

Philip Dunne: Consultancy expenditure as defined by the Cabinet Office for each year since 2007-08 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2007-08 120 
			 2008-09 106 
			 2009-10 79 
			 2010-11 26 
		
	
	The final 2011-12 outturn on consultancy is not yet available.
	Expenditure on consultancy is now published annually in UK Defence Statistics and can be found at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk/modintranet/UKDS/UKDS2011/c1/trans_sup.php

Defence Estates: Contracts

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) senior military personnel have had any meetings with former senior military personnel to discuss the contract to manage Ministry of Defence estates since May 2010;
	(2)  what meetings have taken place between Capita Symonds and (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department regarding the contract to manage Ministry of Defence estates since May 2010.

Mark Francois: There have been no meetings with former senior military personnel to discuss the procurement of a private sector Strategic Business Partner (SBP) to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), who manage the defence estate.
	However, the following meetings have taken place between DIO officials and Capita Symonds where the SBP requirement formed all or part of the discussions.
	
		
			 Date Purpose of meeting Capita Symonds attendees Ministry of Defence attendees 
			 2 August 2011 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Supplier consultation presentation Other suppliers also attended this presentation Jonathan Goring, Chris Sellers, David Spencer Andrew Manley, David Olney 
			 9-10 August 2011 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Supplier consultation follow up meetings Jonathan Goring, Chris Sellers, David Spencer, John Clokey Andrew Manley, David Olney 
			 3 November 2011 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Meeting Jonathan Goring Andrew Manley, David Olney 
			 13 December 2011 Presentation 'DIO The Way Ahead' to suppliers by Andrew Manley and David Olney. Other suppliers also attended this presentation Jonathan Goring, David Spencer, Christian Rogers Andrew Manley, David Olney and two other officials below senior civil service (SCS) 
			 16 January 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Meeting Jonathan Goring Andrew Manley 
			 27 January 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Soft market testing briefing to successful PIN respondees. Other suppliers also attended this presentation Jonathan Goring, Martin Prescott, Dwayne Brook, Cliff Green, Keith Skempton, Tracey Millington Andrew Manley, David Olney Mike Martindale, Richard McKinney, David Marsh and six other officials below SCS 
			 2 February 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner-Soft market test 1-2-1 Jonathan Goring, Martin Prescott, Dwayne Brook, Cliff Green David Olney Mike Martindale, Richard McKinney and David Marsh 
			 30 May 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Meeting Jonathan Goring Andrew Manley 
			 18 June 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Pre Qualification Questionnaire industry day Other suppliers also attended this presentation Neil Wallington, Dwayne Brook, Jonathan Goring, Richard McCarthy Andrew Manley, David Olney Mike Martindale, Richard McKinney, David Marsh, Air Comm. Alan Opie, Brig. Frank Noble, Brig. Mark Armstrong, Andrew Mathewson, Bill Yardley and seven other officials below SCS 
			 11 July 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Resolving potential conflicts of interest meeting Richard McCarthy (plus URS) David Marsh and one other official below SCS 
			 28 August 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Pre Qualification Questionnaire de-brief Richard McCarthy, Anita Randon plus representatives of URS and PA Consulting David Marsh and one other official below SCS 
			 28 September 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Meeting Jonathan Goring Andrew Manley 
			 15 October 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—Meeting Jonathan Goring Andrew Manley 
			 18 October 2012 DIO Strategic Business Partner—ITN update and Bid Process Agreement meeting Neil Wallington, Richard McCarthy, Tony Newsam plus representatives of URS and PA Consulting David Marsh and one other official below SCS

Defence Support Group

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what benchmark calculations are being made in relation to market testing of the Defence Support Group;
	(2)  what value for money exercise has been undertaken in relation to the sale of the Defence Support Group; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what market testing his Department has conducted in relation to the Defence Support Group; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence undertook a short informal market sounding exercise over the summer 2012 to gauge both the level of interest in acquiring the Defence Support Group and to gather market intelligence on how we might eventually package and structure the sale to optimise best value for Government and the taxpayer. The results of the exercise were encouraging and helped to validate many of the planning assumptions that underpin the ongoing internal preparatory work.
	That work will, of course, include a value for money assessment of the sale proposition, which will be undertaken in accordance with HM Treasury and MOD departmental policy.

Falkland Islands

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the total expenditure under the defence budget of the military presence in the Falkland Islands in each year since 2008.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey), gave on 14 March 2012, Official Report, columns 324-25W, to the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy).

Fraud

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to maintain a financial crime investigative capacity within his Department.

Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the then Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 27 March 2012, Official Report, column 116-19W. The future Ministry of Defence Police investigative capability will form part of a co-ordinated pan-departmental strategy to combat fraud and other acquisitive crime against Defence. Formal consultation with the Ministry of Defence Police staff associations is currently ongoing.

Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 615W, on Libya: military intervention, how many of the 230 Dual Mode Seeker Brimstone Missiles were fired by (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 30 October 2012
	During Operation Ellamy last year, all of the Brimstone munitions used were fired from Tornado aircraft.

Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2012, Official Report, column 809W, on Libya: military intervention, if he will place in the Library the aircraft condition survey conducted on the Apache helicopters which flew from HMS Ocean during Operation Ellamy; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 30 October 2012
	A review of the information requested is being conducted with regard to its suitability for release. I will write to my hon. Friend concerning the information requested once the assessment is complete.

Military Bases

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual cost is of the British military bases in (a) Canada, (b) Cyprus, (c) the Falkland Islands, (d) Germany, (e) Gibraltar and (f) Ascension Island, in each category of expenditure.

Nick Harvey: The information is taking time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available.
	Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Angus Robertson:
	Further to the letter my predecessor, Sir Nick Harvey MP, sent to you on 17 August 2012 in answer to your parliamentary question of 17 July 2012 (Official Report, column 762W) about military bases, I am afraid that one of the figures quoted was inaccurate. The figure for the "Spend by Lead Front Line Command" for the South Atlantic Islands should have read £64 million, not £61 million.
	Please accept my apologies for this error which I have corrected in the following table, reproduced with its original explanatory notes.
	
		
			 £ million 
			 2011-12 Cyprus South Atlantic Islands Germany Gibraltar 
			 Spend by Lead Front Line Command 157 64 816 58 
			 Defence Infrastructure Organisation Expenditure 100 35 *91 13 
			 Notes: 1. The figure for DIO spending in Germany includes £1.5 million of expenditure on the European Support Group, which funds projects in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Norway. 2. This is the first time the Defence Infrastructure Organisation expenditure for Cyprus, the South Atlantic Islands (covering the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island), Germany, and Gibraltar spending has been separately identified in this manner. 3. The Falklands cost presented here is the cost of running and maintaining the military base there—not the total cost of defending the Falklands.

Pay

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each year since 2009.

Mark Francois: Although the performance element of pay is colloquially known as a 'bonus', it is a misleading description because the performance-related element of pay is not additional; it is part of the departmental pay bill.
	It continues to be a fundamental principle of Government policy that reward in the public sector should be linked to performance. The Ministry of Defence (MOD), in line with other Government Departments, rewards performance through the use of non-consolidated payments which reflect outputs, results and performance. Such payments are non-pensionable and are a more cost-effective way of rewarding performance since they do not count towards pension costs, and so reduce the overall cost of employing civil servants.
	Changes have been made so that this year's awards were smaller; in doing so we have reduced performance related pay by £13 million. The overall Performance Related Pay for financial year 2012-13, which reflects the performance year of 2011-12, is not yet available. However, this figure is anticipated to be approximately £30 million.
	In future, we plan to reduce the number of people eligible, with the intention that only 10% to 20% of staff will receive awards for genuinely outstanding performance.
	For the total amount of non-consolidated performance related pay 'bonuses' paid to civil servants in financial year 2009-10 (performance year 2008-09) I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 26 January 2011, Official Report, columns 362-66W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel).
	For the total amount of non consolidated performance related pay 'bonuses' paid to civil servants in financial year 2010-11 (performance year 2009-10) I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 18 January 2012, Official Report, columns 827-28W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel). Please note that, following the answer given, an additional payment of £39,000 has now been made.
	In financial year 2011-12 (performance year 2010-11); the non-consolidated performance related pay award for those below the senior civil service amounted to £38,166,950.
	The Special Bonus Scheme amounted to £3,859,000.
	For the Senior Civil Service, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 18 January 2012, Official Report, columns 827-28W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel).
	For Senior Civil Service Fixed Term appointees, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), on 18 January 2012, Official Report, columns 827-28W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel).
	Further SCS Fixed Term Appointee awards were agreed, bringing total amount paid in financial year 2011-12 to £616,916. This involved payments to 21 individuals, some of whom had awards paid in two parts in the financial year in accordance with contracts and milestones achieved.

Reserve Forces

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the (a) training of and (b) equipment provided to reserve members of the armed forces.

Mark Francois: holding answer 25 October 2012
	Reserve members of the armed forces receive appropriate training, which is a mandatory requirement as set out in the Reserve Forces Act 1996. Reserve personnel are trained to a standard so they can be called into permanent service if required and this training is conducted in a phased approach arranged by the single services.
	As the Reserves become more integrated with the regular armed forces they will increasingly utilise the same equipment. Some Territorial Army units are now receiving new equipment, such as vehicles and radios.
	In addition £1.8 billion has been allocated over the next 10 years to ensure that reservists will receive the kit and the training they need to meet their future roles.

Saudi Arabia

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the Ministry of Defence Saudi Armed Forces Project (MODSAP) fits within his Department's structure; and who the Director General of MODSAP is.

Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence Saudi Armed Forces Projects (MODSAP) falls within the Head Office and Corporate Services management area. The post of Director MODSAP (formerly known as the Director General SAP) is presently vacant.

Security

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the flexible tasking proposals prepared by the Ministry of Defence police when determining future security provision at his Department's establishments.

Mark Francois: The ongoing process to determine the future civil policing and guarding requirement at individual Ministry of Defence establishments will include consideration of a flexible tasking option that will ensure the best possible use of the Ministry of Defence police at those Defence sites where there is a clear requirement for constabulary powers as part of the overall protective security arrangements.

Trident

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff of his Department are employed on the Trident Alternatives Review on an (a) part-time and (b) full-time basis; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the review to date, by category of expenditure.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply 
	as the Minister responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review.
	The review is being led by a team within the Cabinet Office consisting of two full-time staff and a senior civil servant. They are drawing on expertise held in other Government Departments, primarily the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on an as-required basis.
	The costs of the review are met from within existing departmental budgets and are limited to the time spent by experts in providing advice and to any incidental travel costs associated with attending meetings.

Trident Submarines

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost-saving is for renewing three Vanguard class Trident submarines rather than four; and whether such a reduction in the number of submarines would be compatible with a continuous at-sea deterrence.

Philip Dunne: There are large costs in the deterrent submarine programme that are not related to the number of submarines, such as the costs associated with designing the submarine and certain infrastructure costs. The detail of the costs of the programme is being developed during the assessment phase which started in 2011, in order to inform a Main Gate decision in 2016 on whether to build the submarines. At this early stage of the assessment phase, no estimates have been produced of savings that might be accrued from reducing from four to three boats.
	Ministry of Defence and industry are in the process of developing the detailed design of the successor deterrent submarine and it is too early to say whether we could maintain continuous at sea deterrence with three boats. The Main Gate investment decision is due in 2016, at which point a decision on three or four submarines will be made.

TriStar Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the final TriStar aircraft will be retired; and what the cost has been of extending their service life to that date.

Philip Dunne: The TriStar aircraft will be retired in March 2014. The cost of extending the service life of the aircraft fleet from the previous out of service date of December 2013 is some £3.6 million. It is not possible at this stage to determine what additional operating costs will be incurred.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many unmanned aerial vehicles have been lost or damaged in such a way that they have been taken permanently out of use since their introduction by the RAF.

Philip Dunne: One Reaper MQ-9 has been lost since entering service in 2007. The remotely piloted air system suffered mechanical failure while airborne over Afghanistan in April 2008. It made a controlled landing but was damaged beyond economic repair. There were no casualties.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Royal Air Force are qualified to fly unmanned aerial vehicles.

Andrew Robathan: There are currently 32 Royal Air Force personnel qualified to pilot the Reaper remotely piloted air system.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the (a) full cost and (b) operating lifespan is of a Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle;
	(2)  what the cost is of a Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle in each of the variants that have been purchased by the armed forces.

Philip Dunne: The total financial approval for delivering and supporting the UK Reaper system from 2007, when it entered service, until the end of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2015, is £506 million. I am withholding information on the unit cost of UK Reaper air vehicles as it's disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another state. No decisions have yet been taken on whether to retain the Reaper system once combat operations end in Afghanistan.
	The UK operates only one version of the Reaper unmanned air system.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether controllers of unmanned aerial vehicles are required to be pilots previously qualified in flying other military aircraft.

Andrew Robathan: The Military Aviation Authority provides the regulation for the operation and command of remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) including the qualifications required by RPAS pilots and operators. The Reaper is the only RPAS which has an attack capability.
	All RAF and Royal Navy Reaper RPAS pilots are qualified in operating other military aircraft including fast jet, helicopter and multi-engine types. The majority of these pilots have served on at least one operational tour on a traditional manned platform.
	The pilots of the Army's unarmed RPAS are not required to be previously qualified in flying other military aircraft, due to the greater level of autonomy of their RPAS.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Billing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the findings of the British Chamber of Commerce's report on supply chains on late payments to businesses;
	(2)  if he will give consideration to the recommendation by the British Chamber of Commerce's report on supply chains that a kitemark scheme should be introduced to promote prompt payments by businesses.

Michael Fallon: The Government welcomes the British Chamber of Commerce's (BCC) Supply Chains report and recommendations which highlight the continued problem of late payment and the need for action by businesses, Government and the banks.
	As the BCC report highlights, access to affordable finance is vital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government is taking the firsts steps towards the creation of a Government-backed business bank which will receive £1 billion of new Government funding and will aim to address long standing, structural gaps in the supply of finance to businesses. The Government is also helping SMEs access affordable working capital through the Prime Minister's Supply Chain Finance Partnership with many of the largest UK businesses, and through the £100 million small business tranche of the Business Finance Partnership.
	We have also been working with business representatives including the BCC and other stakeholders on a variety of ways to help businesses manage cash flow and transform the culture of late payment, including through more efficient payment processes. We agree with the BCC that more can be done to foster good practice in business to business relations. We believe that the Prompt Payment Code is currently the most appropriate vehicle to do this, and our aim is that it should be the norm for businesses to sign up to the code.

Business: Newton Abbot

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support micro businesses in Newton Abbot constituency.

Michael Fallon: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. That is why, in January, the Prime Minister launched ‘Business in You’, a major campaign to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses.
	We have introduced a range of measures that support microbusinesses across the UK:
	Ensuring small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including microbusinesses, can access the support and advice they need to start and grow
	We have changed the way that we help people access the information, guidance and advice they need to start and grow a business. We have put in place a range of services including:
	www.gov.uk
	the new home for Government services and information online. www.gov.uk has been built to make it simpler and faster for people to find what they need from Government. To help those that cannot use internet services, we will continue to offer support through the Business Link helpline (on 0845 6009006).
	A mentoring portal:
	www.mentorsme.co.uk
	providing an easy route to find experienced business mentors.
	A new three-year “GrowthAccelerator” programme which will provide high quality coaching support for up to 26,000 small businesses with high growth potential.
	Ensuring microbusinesses can access the finance they need
	In July, the Government and Bank of England launched the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which allows banks and building societies to borrow at cheaper rates from the Bank of England for periods of up to four years. The FLS creates strong incentives for banks to increase lending to UK households and businesses by lowering interest rates and increasing access to credit.
	Launched a new £10 million Start-Up Loan Scheme aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds.
	Increased the funds available to invest through the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) to £1.2 billion. Government will allocate £100 million of the BFP to invest through non-traditional lending channels that can reach smaller businesses.
	Continuation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme until 2014/15, providing, subject to demand, over £2 billion of additional lending.
	Announced a new £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund to encourage Business Angel investment.
	Continuation of the Government's Enterprise Capital Funds programme, increasing our commitment by £200 million, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs.
	Welcomed the report of the industry review of non-bank lending chaired by Tim Breedon and will take forward its recommendations, including encouraging prompt payment by larger firms.
	Ensuring that regulation supports business growth
	In April 2011 the Government introduced a three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation affecting micro businesses and genuine start-ups.
	Introduced a ‘one-in, one-out’ rule whereby no new regulations which impose costs on businesses can be brought in without regulation of an equivalent value being removed.
	The Red Tape Challenge is tackling the stock of regulation via a comprehensive thematic review which aims to identify regulations that could be removed, simplified or done in a different way.
	Addressing the way in which regulation is enforced at the front line through a series of sector-based reviews of enforcement to examine whether national and local regulatory enforcement was being undertaken and placing the minimum necessary burden on business.
	To reduce barriers to businesses taking on new staff, Government has announced significant deregulation of employment law, including increasing the unfair dismissal qualifying period from one to two years from 6 April 2012.
	Local business support
	The ‘Local Growth’ White Paper set out Government's vision for a localised approach to rebalancing the economy, with key private and public sector partners coming together to drive growth and create employment across functional economic areas. Since then, 39 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) across England have formed and are now working to ensure that local economies can support enterprise, existing businesses and long-term growth. The Heart of the South West LEP is playing an important role in supporting business growth in the Newton Abbott area. A summary of the local and national programmes that are accessible to businesses in the Newton Abbott area can be found on the LEP's website:
	http://www.heartofswlep.co.uk/business-support

Business: Regulation

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the average cost to business of complying with Government regulations in each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon: The Government is not able to estimate the total cost of all regulation because any estimate would need to be based on highly uncertain assumptions about what would happen in the absence of any regulation, however, in our twice-yearly Statements of New Regulation, we have since 2010 published assessments of the impact of changes in regulation. Those statements are available on this Department's website: they show an overall reduction to date in costs to business of £848 million.

Environment Protection: Newton Abbot

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage green investment in Newton Abbot constituency.

Michael Fallon: We have been taking, and will continue to take, action to put the whole economy on a low-carbon, resource and energy efficient path and provide opportunities for green investment. In doing so we need to maintain UK competitiveness and lay the foundations for strong and sustainable growth in the future.
	Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are helping to drive sustainable private sector growth and job creation in their area. The Heart of the South West LEP covers Newton Abbot. Their aim is to create the right conditions to allow businesses to grow and to attract investment into the area. The LEP will focus on a number of priority sectors, including developing the green economy.
	Last year the Government published 'Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy' which will help inform the continuing dialogue between government, business and communities. It sets out the range of policies we are using to support the transition to a green economy, the associated business opportunities and the implications for the way in which businesses operate and invest. The document included the examples of the food and drink, chemicals and automotive industries and, crucially, the challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
	The UK Green Investment Bank is being developed as a key component of the Government's transition to a green and growing economy. The bank's mission is 'to provide financial solutions to accelerate private sector investment in the UK's transition to a green economy'. Funded with £3 billion, it will tackle finance gaps which still remain despite a range of strong policies to incentivise green investments. It will work towards a 'double bottom line' of both achieving environmental policies and making positive financial returns.
	The Government recognises that development of appropriate skills is an important part of the green economy. A report "Skills for a Green Economy" was published in October 2011, and maps out possible skills needs and gaps across different green sectors. The Government has put learners and employers in the driving seat, giving them the support, funding and information to make the right choices and to help employers shape the skills system. Taken together, we are creating a strong and flexible platform to meet the skills needs for the green economy transition.

Human Embryo Experiments

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the funding of research by the EU involving fertilised human eggs under the Horizon 2020 programme.

David Willetts: The UK believes that this is an area where the principle of subsidiarity should apply. The UK supports the position of the European Commission and the ethical principles for research under Horizon 2020 outlined in Article 16 of the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing Horizon 2020—The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-20).

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Jo Swinson: This information is not held centrally within the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: RCUK SSC Ltd has taken over the provision of procurement services on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) from 1 August 2012.
	From the latest available data the amount of expenditure during the last 12 months (September 2011 to August 2012) against publications is £190,975.

Regional Growth Fund

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total amount awarded in all three rounds of the Regional Growth Fund was in each local authority.

Michael Fallon: I am placing in the Libraries of the House a table detailing the Regional Growth Fund allocations from the three bidding rounds. In determining the local authority, post code for the main activity has been used and this may underestimate the impact of RGF in an area. Further, the table does not include the impact of nationwide programmes.

Regional Growth Fund: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding has been released to bids from Cumbria that were successful in rounds one and two of the Regional Growth Fund to date.

Michael Fallon: Four projects from Cumbria were successful in the first two Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bidding rounds. Of these, two now have Final Offer and have started work but have not yet made a claim. Two further projects have agreed Offers and are currently undertaking Due Diligence after which the offer will be finalised. Beneficiaries must achieve specific investment and employment triggers in order to draw down RGF funding.
	Firms in Cumbria are also eligible for support under a number of the RGF's national programmes.

Regional Planning and Development

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proposals he plans to bring forward to support economic growth in the English regions following the conclusion of the Regional Growth Fund.

Michael Fallon: The impact sustainable jobs created and protected by the Regional Growth Fund will be realised over a decade. No decisions have yet been made on a further bidding round.
	Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are driving sustainable economic growth and creating the conditions for private sector job growth in their communities. Government is supporting them by providing £24 million core-funding for the remainder of this Parliament, which will help LEP institutional capacity. We are also piloting "growth conversations" with a small number of LEPs to address not just short term barrier-busting but also longer term local growth strategies.

Staff

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: RCUK SSC Ltd has taken over the provision of procurement services on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) from 1 August 2012.
	From the latest available data the amount of expenditure during the last 12 months (September 2011 to August 2012) against the following headings is:
	
		
			  £ 
			 (a) Recruitment agency fees 553,652 
			 (b) Outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff n/a 
			 (c) Staff training 2,183,039 
			 n/a = not available.

Vacancies

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's vacancy rate was in 2011-12; and what vacancy rate has been assumed for 2012-13.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had a vacancy rate of 1.3% during 2011-12 and the working assumption for 2012-13 is that it will rise to approximately 2%.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2012, Official Report, column 643W, on Atos Healthcare, whether he has made an estimate of the level of profit Atos will make from each contract; and what the likely level of profit is for each.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is commercially confidential. Our contracts are subject to commercially negotiated and mutually acceptable terms including appropriate mechanisms to ensure transparency of ail charges and value for money for the Department in line with Cabinet Office requirements.

Billing

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque.

Mark Hoban: The average cost of processing an invoice was £2.69 for the month of August 2012. In the same period, 99.7% of invoices were paid electronically.

Children: Maintenance

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many compensation payments were made by the Child Support Agency valued (a) £0 to £250, (b) £251 to £500, (c) £501 to £1,000, (d) £1,001 to £5,000, (e) £5,001 to £10,000, (f) £10,001 to £20,000 and (g) over £20,000 in 2011-12; and what the value of the single highest award was.

Steve Webb: The number of compensation payments made by the Child Support Agency in 2011 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Compensation value Number of payments 
			 Under £250 5,350 
			 £250.01 to £500 150 
			 £500.01 to £1,000 125 
			 £1,000,01 to £5,000 180 
			 £5,000.01 to £10,000 15 
			 £10,000.01 to £20,000 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Over £20,000.01 (1)— 
			 (1) Nil or negligible Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five. 2. The table shows the number of payments, rather than number of recipients. 
		
	
	The highest compensation value in this period was £23,660.

Council Tax Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people under the age of 65 claim council tax benefit in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency.

Steve Webb: The available information on the number of people under the age of 65 who claim council tax benefit in each local authority area has been placed in the Library.
	Similar statistics by parliamentary constituency are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made on the effect of the Youth Contract in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK;
	(2)  how many job opportunities have been created in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK as part of the Youth Contract;
	(3)  how many employers have received a wage subsidy in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK as part of the Youth Contract.

Mark Hoban: The Youth Contract was introduced in April 2012 to provide additional support to young unemployed people over the next three years.
	This includes additional work experience and sector-based work academy places; wage incentives for employers; additional Apprenticeship Grants for Employer; and help for the most disengaged 16 and 17-year-olds in England.
	In most cases the wage incentives element of the Youth Contract are paid after a young person has been in work continuously for 26 weeks. Following the collection and quality assurance of this data, the first set of Official Statistics on the wage incentive should be available from early 2013, although at this point they will be at national level only. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
	Although it is too soon to make an accurate assessment of the effects of the Youth Contract we have commissioned an external evaluation to examine delivery and outcomes. The first evaluation report will be available in early 2013.

Housing Benefit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the distribution of recipients of housing benefit by awards.

Steve Webb: The information the hon. Member requested is available in the following table:
	
		
			 Median amount of housing benefit by average weekly award decile, Great Britain: May 2012 
			 Average weekly award decile Median amount of housing benefit (£ per week) 
			 1 35.77 
			 2 56.54 
			 3 64.66 
			 4 70.94 
			 5 77.03 
			 6 83.32 
			 7 91.15 
			 8 101.54 
			 9 118.11 
			 10 175.49 
			 Notes: 1. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 2. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. The data is available monthly from November 2008. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest penny. 4. Recipients with an unknown or zero award are not included in this table. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract 100% individual level data (SHBE) May 2012.

Housing Benefit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the distribution of recipients of housing benefit by income bracket.

Steve Webb: The requested information is available in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of housing benefit recipients by household income decile, before housing costs, for the United Kingdom, 2010/11 
			 Income decile Housing benefit recipients (million) 
			 1 1.2 
			 2 2.0 
			 3 1.6 
			 4 1.3 
			 5 0.8 
			 6 0.5 
			 7 0.3 
			 8 0.1 
			 9 (1)— 
			 10 (1)— 
		
	
	
		
			 (1) The number of housing benefit recipients for deciles 9 and 10 have been suppressed due to small sample sizes Notes: 1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2010/11 Family Resources survey, (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 3. Figures have been presented on a before housing cost basis only. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year. 6. Numbers of individuals have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand individuals. 7. Housing benefit recipients measures the number of all individuals in households that report receiving housing benefit. Households receiving housing benefit is based on self-declaration of benefit receipt and is therefore subject to incomplete reporting. Source: Family Resources Survey (FRS) 2010/11

Industrial Health and Safety: Construction

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to include a specific reference to competency on construction sites in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

Mark Hoban: There are no such plans. Requirements relating to ensuring competence in carrying out construction work are set out in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Industrial Health and Safety: Construction

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how he proposes that competence on construction sites will be assessed through the Construction Design and Management Regulations.

Mark Hoban: The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 require businesses and individuals appointed to carry out construction work to be competent to do the work for which they have been appointed. The Approved Code of Practice associated with these regulations sets out a framework for the assessment of such competence.

Industrial Health and Safety: Construction

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made on the effect of his review of the Construction Design and Management Regulations on competency on construction sites.

Mark Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an evaluation of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 between April 2010 and February 2011. This looked at the extent to which the original aims for these regulations had been met, including the aim of simplifying the assessment of competence. A report of this evaluation has been published and can be found at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr920.htm
	HSE is using this report to inform proposals to revise these regulations.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2012, Official Report, columns 1057-8W, on jobseeker's allowance, what the meaning is of the two measures for the proportion of new claims for jobseeker's allowance which are submitted online.

Mark Hoban: The higher (business case) measure is the number of claims submitted online divided by the total number of claims on which a decision is made regardless of how they were submitted. The lower (MISP) measure is the proportion of claims on which a decision is made which were started online.

Mobile Phones

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which companies supply (a) mobile telephones and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

Mark Hoban: DWP acquire mobile telephony services from BT, although they in turn subcontract this provision to Vodaphone and Orange.
	Vodaphone provide the majority of mobile telephones and mobile data services to the DWP although Orange provide a very small element of both where there are issues with Vodaphone network reception.

Occupational Pensions

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to introducing an optional aggregator scheme alongside the automatic movement of previous occupational pensions to a member's current pension; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: In the Government response “Improving Transfers and Small Pension Pots” published on 17 July, we set out our view that the automatic transfer of pension pots when the member changes employment is the most efficient way of encouraging pensions saving and reducing the number of small pots. We remain convinced that this "pot follows member" model is the most efficient way of consolidating members' pension pots and will bring forward legislation as soon as is practical to allow automatic transfers.
	However, the automatic transfer process will include an opportunity for the member to opt out, and could prompt the member to consider the option of initiating a transfer to an alternative scheme, including a good quality "aggregator" scheme.

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to which magazines, journals and newspapers his Department subscribes.

Mark Hoban: A table containing the magazines, journals and newspapers the Department for Work and Pensions subscribes to will be placed in the Library.

Press: Subscriptions

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade publications in the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: Information on the amount spent in the last 12 months is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Last 12 months October 2011 to September 2012 
			  £ 
			 Newspaper/magazine spend 15,000.63 
			 Periodicals spend 38,473.43

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: In accordance with cross-Government arrangements, the Department reports sickness absence based on annual, not monthly, data. These are expressed as average working days lost (AWDL) per employee per year. Monthly data are not used because they are unrepresentative due to seasonal and other causes.
	The Department is committed to reducing sickness absence and has made significant improvements in recent years. We have cut absence rates for the total work force from a peak of 11.1 average days lost in March 2007 to 7.2 average working days lost overall.
	The following table shows the latest average working days lost (AWDL) in each pay grade for September 2012.
	
		
			 Grade Average working days lost Percentage 
			 Administrative Assistant 7.98 3.55 
			 Administrative Officer 8.73 3.88 
			 Executive Officer 6.65 2.96 
			 Higher Executive Officer 4.39 1.95 
			 Senior Executive Officer 3.36 1.50 
			 Grade 7 2.43 1.08 
			 Grade 6 2.26 1.00 
			 Senior Civil Service 2.73 1.21

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of residents in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East who will become ineligible for disability-related welfare benefits as a result of his plans for welfare reform.

Esther McVey: The latest draft of the personal independence payment assessment criteria and thresholds was published for consultation in January 2012 on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-assessment-thresholds-and-consultation.pdf
	It included estimates of the likely PIP benefit case load in 2015-16, compared to the projected working age DLA case load had PIP not been introduced. These estimates, which were based on the second draft of the assessment criteria, have been broken down by each of the benefit rate combinations.
	A government response to the consultation and the PIP assessment criteria regulations will be published later this year.
	Information on current disability living allowance and carer's allowance case loads at a parliamentary constituency, local authority and regional level can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether national insurance contributions are paid by the Government for claimants whose benefits have been stopped via sanction.

Mark Hoban: National insurance credits are not awarded where jobseeker's allowance has been stopped because of a sanction.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incidents of benefit fraud were detected in each of the last five years; and in each such year how many such cases resulted in (a) a formal caution, (b) an administrative penalty and (c) a criminal prosecution.

Mark Hoban: The Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for benefit fraud investigation within the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The figures provided in the following table are the number of cases closed for the last five financial years (1 April to 31 March), following an investigation.
	
		
			  Number of cases closed 
			 2007/08(1) 63,080 
			 2008/09 156,769 
			 2009/10 150,365 
			 2010/11 155,559 
			 2011/12 166,073 
			 (1) Figures are from 1 July 2007 to 31 March 2008 when the Fraud Referral and Intervention Management system (FRAIMS) was introduced. 
		
	
	The figures provided in the following table are the number of cases where fraud was proved and the subsequent outcome for each financial year requested.
	
		
			  Number of administrative penalties Number of cautions Number of convictions for benefit fraud offences 
			 2007/08 8,566 12,821 7,745 
			 2008/09 7,160 14,320 6,700 
			 2009/10 7,249 15,117 7,040 
			 2010/11 7,625 15,574 8,598 
			 2011/12 7,364 15,939 9,861 
		
	
	The number of cases closed may not directly relate to the number of administrative penalties, cautions-and convictions in the same year and therefore the data cannot be directly compared. This is due to the length of time it can take for some cases to conclude and sentencing be passed, which may span more than one tax year.
	The information supplied by the Department has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. It is therefore possible this information may change due to operational reasons.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether there were any changes in policy on dealing with benefit fraud between 2009 and 2012; and if he will set out details of any such changes.

Mark Hoban: The Department introduced the ‘one-strike’ penalty for conviction, penalty or caution for benefit offences under The Welfare Reform Act 2009 which came into effect from 1 April 2010.
	In October 2010 we outlined our plans for reducing fraud and error overpayments in the welfare system by £1.4 billion by March 2015 through our fraud and error strategy “Tackling fraud and error in the benefit and tax credits systems”. The strategy was refreshed in a joint report with HMRC and the Cabinet Office in February 2012.
	These plans include delivering an integrated risk and intelligence service, a hub for collecting and analysing claimant information and applying fraud and error prevention filters. The Department is also developing the Single Fraud Investigation Service with HMRC and local authorities, joining expertise and efforts in investigating fraud. We have also worked with partners on the mobile regional taskforce pilots focusing on intelligence led campaigns in high fraud risk areas.
	The Welfare Reform Act 2012 provides the Department with tougher powers to punish and deter welfare cheats. A tougher minimum administrative penalty was introduced in May 2012 and from 1 October a new civil penalty came into force for claimant error. The Act will also introduce more stringent mechanisms for rapidly and effectively recovering debts. The Department and HMRC have increased the maximum rate at which fraud debts can be recovered by deduction from benefits by around 25%. This new recovery rate for fraud debts was introduced in April 2012.
	With the introduction of universal credit in 2013, the benefits system will also be made simpler and, as far as possible, the opportunities for fraud and error to enter our systems will be greatly reduced.

Unemployed People: Mental Illness

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the abolition of the 104 week linking rule on the likelihood of people with mental health disabilities looking for work.

Mark Hoban: The employment and support allowance (Amendment of Linking Rules) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 919) abolished the 104 week linking rule. The abolition of the 104 week linking rule in incapacity benefit was necessary to ensure the smooth reassessment of some 1.5 million people to employment and support allowance. Unlike incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance provides personalised support to help claimants, including people with mental health issues, to return to work.
	The explanatory memorandum which accompanies these regulations can be found here:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/919/pdfs/uksiem_20120919_en.pdf
	Paragraph 7.5 provides details of the assessment made.

Unemployment: Young People

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of young people aged 16 to 19 years old who are not in employment, education or training in (a) Denton and Reddish constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.

David Laws: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Education.
	Local authorities collect information on the number and proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training in their area. This is published annually on the DFE website.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/participation/neet/a0064101/strategies-for-16-to-18-year-olds-not-in-education-employment-or-training-neet
	Figures for Greater Manchester for the end of 2011 are shown as follows. An England average from this data is also shown for comparison. This data relates to the young person's academic age. The data cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			 16 to 18-year-olds NEET 
			  Number Proportion (percentage) 
			 Greater Manchester 6720 6.9 
			 England 108,490 6.1

Universal Credit

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Social Development regarding the compatibility of current IT infrastructure for the welfare system in Northern Ireland with the introduction of universal credit.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit (UC) is scheduled to go live in October 2013 but will not be introduced in Northern Ireland at this time.
	UC will be rolled out in NI from April 2014. Lord Freud, the Minister for Welfare Reform, and the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland have met and continue to have ongoing discussions.
	Officials from both DWP and DSDNI are in regular contact to define and agree the changes which will be required to the Universal Credit IT System to facilitate the implementation of universal credit in Northern Ireland.

Universal Credit

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he proposes that couples with joint claims for universal credit will be able to alter the choice of payment account which they made at the start of their claim.

Mark Hoban: As in the current benefit system, claimants will be able to change the account into which universal credit is paid. It will be for the couple to decide which account universal credit is paid into.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior civil servants working on the universal credit programme have left the programme in the last three months.

Mark Hoban: The roles within the programme change as progress is made. In the last three months, one senior civil servant has been assigned elsewhere in the Department as their role on the programme completed.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who the (a) senior responsible officer and (b) programme director for universal credit were on 1 September 2012; and who will hold those positions on 1 November 2012.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows.
	(a) Terry Moran and (b) Malcolm Whitehouse on both 1 September 2012 and on 1 November 2012.
	With the pathfinder starting in six months, the Universal Credit programme is moving from designing and building the system to its safe delivery in operations. With this change of emphasis, Malcolm Whitehouse, who has brought the programme successfully to this key stage, with plans in place for the April pathfinder, will hand over his role as programme director to Hilary Reynolds on 5 November. Malcolm will work closely with Hilary to ensure a smooth transition.

Welfare State: Reform

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration his Department has given to issues of serious youth violence in developing its plans for reform of the benefits system.

Mark Hoban: This Government is committed to enabling young people to forge a positive future, away from the negative influences of gang membership and youth violence. Employment is a key factor in this process and DWP has a comprehensive suite of provision for young people, which includes the Youth Contract, Innovation Fund, Get Britain Working Measures and the Work programme (this includes immediate Work programme access on release from custody for those who have served a prison sentence). Alongside this is targeted Jobcentre Plus help and support, including the Flexible Support Fund. This provision is being used to support those who are involved in, or at risk of involvement in youth violence.
	We will continue to carry forward and develop these measures to help young people, as we work on the reform of the benefits system. Universal credit will be introduced in 2013 and is designed to reduce benefit payments gradually as the person moves into work and increases their earnings, with the intention that work will pay.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 667W, on work capability assessment: Parkinson's disease, how many people suffering from (a) Parkinson's disease, (b) MS, (c) cancer and (d) dementia have undergone (i) multiple work capability assessments and (ii) multiple work capability assessments in a 12 month period.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows those claimants who had more than one work capability assessment (WCA) between October 2008 and February 2012 and whose main health condition was recorded as Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer or dementia when they first claimed ESA.
	Part (ii) of this question could be answered only at a disproportionate cost.
	Not all of these assessments will involve a face-to-face assessment. All ESA claimants must go through a WCA and for many claimants this will involve a face-to-face assessment but for others, including people undergoing certain types of chemotherapy or who have a serious condition, this is a paper-based assessment.
	As part of each WCA, it will be determined, based upon the claimant's condition and medical evidence, when they need to have another assessment. Individuals with more serious conditions, where a return to work is unlikely, will only be reassessed after two years, and where possible this assessment will be paper-based.
	
		
			 Number of claimants who have been through multiple work capability assessments 
			 Health condition Number of claimants 
			 Parkinson's disease 490 
			 Multiple Sclerosis 2,320 
			 Cancer 18,450 
			 Dementia 110 
			 Notes: 1. The Department regularly publishes data on ESA and WCA. The latest publication can be found on the departmental website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca 2.Data on ESA assessments and outcomes are taken from administrative data held by the Department for Work and Pensions and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare. 3. Data are for individuals who have gone through a work capability assessment. 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Work Capability Assessment

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many medical assessments have been undertaken by Atos Healthcare as part of a work capability assessment in each of the last five months; and how many people (a) failed the work capability assessment, (b) appealed the decision and (c) had the decision overturned on appeal in each such period.

Mark Hoban: The requested information for new employment and support (ESA) claims can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca
	Information on work capability assessment (WCA) outcomes for incapacity benefits reassessment claims can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_ibr
	Note that appeals data for incapacity benefits reassessment claims is not available.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether audio recording of a work capability assessment is now available on request of the claimant; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: In his first independent review, Professor Harrington recommended that DWP ask Atos Healthcare to pilot the audio recording of face-to-face assessments to
	“determine whether such an approach is helpful for claimants and improves the quality of assessments.”
	The pilot clearly showed that audio recording of face-to-face assessments would not improve the quality of assessments and there was only limited evidence of improvement in the customer experience for some individuals. The Department therefore decided not to implement the recording of assessments for all cases. However, since the start of the trial in spring 2011, we have asked Atos Healthcare to try and accommodate requests for audio recording where a claimant makes a request in advance of their assessment and they have done so.

Work Capability Assessment Independent Review

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he expects to appoint a successor to Professor Malcolm Harrington when he steps down from his role as independent reviewer of the work capability assessment.

Mark Hoban: The work capability assessment (WCA) was introduced in October 2008 to assess entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA). Section 10 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 commits the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to lay an independent report before Parliament each year for the first five years of operation following its introduction.
	Professor Harrington undertook and completed the first two independent reviews of the WCA and he expects to publish his third and final review before the end of the year. We will appoint Professor Harrington's successor in due course.

PRIME MINISTER

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to require all cleaning contracts held with his Office to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Chloe Smith: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	The Cabinet Office's total facilities management contract for its central London estate is with ETDE. ETDE already use cleaning chemicals which are not tested on animals. The cleaning contract for buildings outside of central London is with Mitie who do not use products tested on animals.
	Products used in cleaning services supplied to the Department are required to comply with the Government Buying Standards co-ordinated by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs:
	http://sd.defra.gov.uk/advice/public/buying/products/cleaning/

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Violence against Women

Jane Ellison: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how she plans to carry out her role as international violence against women champion.

Lynne Featherstone: As ministerial champion for tackling violence against women and girls overseas, I am engaging foreign leaders and supporting women’s movements, to improve women’s rights, security and access to justice, and will ensure these messages are carried by all Government Ministers when travelling overseas.

India

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on the future of the UK’s bilateral aid relationship with India; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: I had a very constructive discussion on the future of the bilateral aid programme with the Indian Finance Minister whilst at the World Bank meeting in Tokyo last week, and I will continue those discussions urgently in the coming weeks.

Millennium Development Goals

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the need to promote and achieve millennium development goals 2 and 3 on universal education and gender equality.

Justine Greening: Both myself and the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), have discussed the millennium development goals on education and gender with a range of Governments. I am determined to make sure girls and women are at the heart of everything we do.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian implications of Rwanda’s support for militia activity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Justine Greening: The humanitarian situation in DRC has worsened, which is linked to the activities of the M23 and other militia. Regarding his point relating to Rwanda, the Group of Experts will formally report in December and I will
	critically asses the situation as of then.

Food Security

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the effect of commodity food price speculation on food security in the developing world.

Lynne Featherstone: The coalition Government recognise the damaging impact of high food prices on poor consumers in developing countries. Based on our continued assessment of the evidence, we believe that changes in supply and demand, rather than speculation, are the main factors behind the recent spikes in global grain prices.

Burma

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Rakhine state in Burma.

Alan Duncan: The recent increase in communal violence between the de-facto stateless Muslim Rohingya and the majority Buddhist Rakhine communities has taken the reported number of displaced people to over 100,000. The majority lack food, safe drinking water or adequate sanitation.
	A written ministerial statement today announces bilateral humanitarian support to provide urgent water, sanitation and nutrition support to more than 58,000 people.

Tax Evasion and Avoidance

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effect of tax evasion and avoidance on the development of a sustainable tax base in developing countries.

Lynne Featherstone: There is no international consensus on the precise cost of tax evasion and avoidance to developing countries. But tackling these problems is vital to increase tax revenue. DFID and HM Revenue and Customs provide technical assistance and capacity building in partner countries to enable them do this.

Bangladesh

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on provision of aid to non-government-registered schools in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: There is no stand-alone policy on provision of aid to what are known as ‘registered non-government schools’ in Bangladesh. The terminology of 'non-government-registered schools’ is not used. Nonetheless, DFID supports registered non- government primary schools through the Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP), Phase 3.
	The main outcome of this programme (2011-17) by 2017 will be the improved quality of primary education in nearly 80,000 schools educating 16.8 million children. In addition, the completion rate in primary schools is expected to increase from 60% to 75%.

Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the average time taken by her Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Alan Duncan: As a central Government Department, DFID is required to comply with the prompt payment initiative. This requires that Departments aim to pay over 80% of valid invoices within five days of receipt (10 days for financial year 2009-10), with the remainder paid within 30 days of receipt.
	Monthly performance rates against these targets are published on the DFID website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/about-us/how-we-measure-progress/dfid-spend/dfid-payment-performance/
	The average performance rates for the last three financial years, which are also published in our annual accounts, are:
	Within  five  days
	2011-12: 82.45%
	2010-11: 78.56%
	Within 10 days
	2009-10: 90.74%.

Developing Countries: Agriculture

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish a list of bilateral agricultural projects funded by her Department since May 2010 providing the (a) size and (b) purpose of the project in each case.

Alan Duncan: Details of all agricultural projects funded by the Department for International Development and completed after August 2009 are on the Department's website at:
	http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/
	The database provides details on project budgets and purpose against relevant sector codes. For agricultural projects the headings for relevant sector codes are: Agricultural development, Agricultural land resources, Agricultural policy and administrative management, Agricultural research and Agricultural services.

Developing Countries: Agriculture

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which bilateral projects focused on small-scale farmers in developing countries her Department has approved since May 2010.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not track spending on 'small-scale farmers' because this is not one of the standardised categories which all members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) use to describe how they allocate their resources. However, in at least 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, DFID is providing direct support for smallholders. Examples of on-going projects include:
	supporting land tenure in Rwanda which will provide 4 million poor men and women with title to the land they farm;
	supporting a Farm input Subsidy Programme in Malawi to help 1.5 million poor farmers increase their agricultural productivity.
	DFID also, invests in key multilateral organisations which provide support for smallholder agriculture. For example:
	funding the International Fund for Agricultural Development to help smallholders in about 40 countries to adapt to climate change.
	supporting the international agricultural research organisation, CGIAR, to develop drought-tolerant maize, which benefits more than 2 million smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Developing Countries: Fire Services

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much of her Department's budget is allocated to providing training for fire and rescue services in partner countries abroad;
	(2)  whether her Department has given consideration to providing financial assistance to developing countries to enable their fire and rescue service personnel to take up places at the UK's Fire Service College;
	(3)  how many (a) requests for and (b) offers of places at the Fire Service College have been made by or to staff employed by governments in partner developing countries.

Alan Duncan: Information on funding for fire and rescue services training provided by our country offices is not held centrally by DFID and can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. Decisions on issues such as providing assistance to fire and rescue services personnel are made at the country office level.
	Information on the number of: (a) requests for, or (b) offers of places at the Fire Service College by staff employed by governments in partner developing countries is not held centrally by DFID.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department has measured the effects on health outcomes of its Making it Happen health worker training scheme in each of the countries where the scheme operates.

Alan Duncan: The Making it Happen Programme trains health workers to provide life-saving care for newborn babies and emergency obstetric care. The outcomes measured include changes in maternal death rates and incidence of stillbirth, changes in the number of women who give birth at health facilities and changes in the number of women receiving emergency obstetric care at participating health facilities for each year of the programme. All of these figures are compared against the baseline. Data for these indicators are gathered from health facility registers of maternal discharges, institutional births, maternal deaths and stillbirths. Data are then aggregated at country level and across all participating countries to give the respective averages.
	Under the first phase of the Making it Happen Programme (2009-11) there have been 2,711 workers trained in five countries. The outcome was an observed 25% reduction in maternal death rates and a 15% reduction in the proportion of babies who were stillborn at participating health facilities. Additionally, there was a 20% increase in the number of women giving birth at a health facility and a 55% increase in women receiving emergency obstetric care, relative to baseline.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many health workers have been trained with her Department's support over the last three years.

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) estimates that 25% of its health budget is invested in human resources for health. We do not collect health worker data across all our health programmes, this is because our results are described in terms of health outcomes or impact (for example the number of births attended by skilled birth attendant, or reduction in maternal mortality).

Egypt

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to encourage the development of civil society organisations in Egypt.

Alan Duncan: DFID is working closely with other UK Departments to provide support for civil society organisations in Egypt. For example, we are funding the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) to strengthen civil society in Egypt over the next three years by providing training in good governance, advocacy and network building.
	Our work with the NCVO is funded through the Arab Partnership, run jointly by DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The Arab Partnership supports those in the middle east and north Africa region who are working to build more stable, prosperous and inclusive societies.

International Assistance

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2012, Official Report, column 379W, on international assistance, what the names are of the high-level panel members; what the location and schedule of meetings is; and what the outcome was of the first meeting which took place at the end of September.

Alan Duncan: For information on the high-level panel members please see the UN Secretary General's website:
	http://www.un.org/sg/management/hlppost2015.shtml
	The first meeting was held on 25 September in New York and agreed that there would be four subsequent meetings. The next meeting will be held in London on 1 November and will cover household poverty. The following two meetings will be held in Monrovia and Bali early next year and will cover national and international issues respectively. The final meeting will be in New York to agree the panel's final report which is due by the end of June 2013.
	For information on the outcomes of the first meeting in New York see the press release on the UN's website:
	http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/dev2959.doc.htm

Press: Subscriptions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which magazines, journals and newspapers her Department subscribes.

Alan Duncan: DFID subscribes to the following print magazines, journals and newspapers:
	Magazines, journals and newspapers
	The Church Times
	Daily Express
	Daily Mail
	Daily Mirror
	Daily Telegraph
	Eastern Eye
	The Economist
	Experimental Agriculture
	Financial Times
	Grazia
	Guardian
	Harvard Business Review
	The Herald
	Independent
	Independent on Sunday
	I–newspaper
	The Jewish Chronicle
	The Lancet
	Look magazine
	Muslim Weekly
	Nature
	New England Journal of Medicine
	New Scientist
	New Statesman
	The Observer
	Private Eye
	Science
	Spectator
	Social Science and Medicine
	The Sun
	The Sunday Telegraph
	The Sunday Times
	Times Education supplement
	The Times
	The Tribune
	The Voice
	World Development.
	All of these publications have either carried pieces of interest to DFID or have written articles relating to DFID's work.